I. (1) The
genera and heads of all special laws, which are called "the ten
commandments," have been discussed with accuracy in the former treatise. We
must now proceed to consider the particular commands as we read them in the
subsequent passages of the holy scriptures; and we will begin with that which is
turned into ridicule by people in general. (2) The ordinance of circumcision of
the parts of generation is ridiculed, though it is an act which ispracticed to no slight degree among other nations also, and most
especially by the Egyptians, who appear to me to be the most populous of all
nations, and the most abounding in all kinds of wisdom. (3) In consequence of
which it would be most fitting for men to discard childish ridicule, and to
investigate the real causes of the ordinance with more prudence and dignity,
considering the reasons why the custom has prevailed, and not being precipitate,
so as without examination to condemn the folly of mighty nations, recollecting
that it is not probable that so many myriads should be circumcised in every
generation, mutilating the bodies of themselves and of their nearest relations,
in a manner which is accompanied with severe pain, without adequate cause; but
that there are many reasons which might encourage men to persevere and continue
a custom which has been introduced by previous generations, and that these are
from reasons of the greatest weight and importance. (4) First of all, that it is
a preventive of a painful disease, and of an affliction difficult to be cured,
which they call a carbuncle; {1}{the Greek word is anthrax, which also signifies
a coal. The Latin, from which our carbuncle is derived, carbunculus, a
diminutive of carbo, which also means a coal.} because, I imagine, when it
becomes inflamed it burns; from which fact it has derived that appellation. And
this disease is very apt to be engendered among those who have not undergone the
rite of circumcision. (5) Secondly, it secures the cleanliness of the whole body
in a way that is suited to the people consecrated to God; with which object the
Egyptian priests, being extravagant in their case, shave the whole of their
bodies; for some of these evils which ought to be got rid of are collected in
and lodge under the hair and the prepuce. (6) Thirdly, there is the resemblance
of the part that is circumcised to the heart; for both parts are prepared for
the sake of generation; for the breath contained within the heart is generative
of thoughts, and the generative organ itself is productive of living beings.
Therefore, the men of old thought it right to make the evident and visible
organ, by which the objects of the outward senses are generated, resemble that
invisible and superior part, by means of which ideas are formed. (7) The fourth,
and most important, is that which relates to the provision thus made for
prolificness; for it is said that the seminal fluid proceeds in its path easily,
neither being at all scattered, nor flowing on its passage into what may be
called the bags of the prepuce. On which account those nations whichpractice circumcision are the most prolific and the most populous.

II.
(8) These considerations have come to our ears, having been discussed of old
among men of divine spirit and wisdom, who have interpreted the writings of
Moses in no superficial or careless manner. But, besides what has been already
said, I also look upon circumcision to be a symbol of two things of the most
indispensable importance. (9) First of all, it is a symbol of the excision of
the pleasures which delude the mind; for since, of all the delights which
pleasure can afford, the association of man with woman is the most exquisite, it
seemed good to the lawgivers to mutilate the organ which ministers to such
connections; by which rite they signified figuratively the excision of all
superfluous and excessive pleasure, not, indeed, of one only, but of all others
whatever, though that one which is the most imperious of all. (10) The second
thing is, that it is a symbol of a man's knowing himself, and discarding that
terrible disease, the vain opinion of the soul; for some men, like good
statuaries, have boasted that they can make that most beautiful animal, man;
and, being puffed up with arrogance, have deified themselves, hiding from sight
the true cause of the creation of all things namely, God, although they might
have corrected that error from a consideration of other persons among whom they
live; (11) for there are among them many men who have no children, and many
barren women whose connections lead to nothing, so that they grow old in
childlessness. We must therefore eradicate evil opinions from the mind, and all
other ideas which are not devoted to God. This, then, is enough to say on these
subjects. (12) But we must now turn to the special and particular laws; and
first of all to those which relate to those people by whom it is well to be
governed, those which have been enacted concerning Monarchy.{2}

III.
(13) Some persons have conceived that the sun, and the moon, and the other stars
are independent gods, to whom they have attributed the causes of all things that
exist. But Moses was well aware that the world was created, and was like a very
large city, having rulers and subjects in it; the rulers being all the bodies
which are in heaven, such as planets and fixed stars; (14) and the subjects
being all the natures beneath the moon, hovering in the air and adjacent to the
earth. But that the rulers aforesaid are not independent and absolute, but are
the viceroys of one supreme Being, the Father of all, in imitation of whom they
administer with propriety and success the charge committed to their care, as he
also presides over all created things in strict accordance with justice and with
law. Others, on the contrary, who have not discovered the supreme Governor, who
thus rules everything, have attributed the causes of the different things which
exist in the world to the subordinate powers, as if they had brought them to
pass by their own independent act. (15) But the most sacred lawgiver changes
their ignorance into knowledge, speaking in the following manner: "Thou
shall not, when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the
host of heaven, be led astray and fall down and worship
Them."{3}{Deuteronomy 4:19.} With great felicity and propriety has he here
called the reception of these bodies as gods, an error; (16) for they who see
that the different seasons of the year owe their existence to the advances and
retreats of the sun, in which periods also the generation of animals, and
plants, and fruits, are perfected according to well-defined times, and who see
also that the moon is the servant and successor of the sun, taking that care and
superintendence of the world by night which the sun takes by day; and also that
the other stars, in accordance with their sympathy with things on earth, labor
continually and do ten thousand things which contribute to the duration of the
existing state of things, have been led into an inextricable error, imagining
that these bodies are the only gods. (17) But if they had taken pains to travel
along the straight and true road, they would soon have known that just as the
outward sense is the subordinate minister of the mind, so in the same manner all
the objects of the outward senses are servants of that which is appreciable only
by intellect, being well contented if they can attain to the second place in
honor. (18) But it is altogether ridiculous to imagine that the mind, which is
the smallest thing in us, being in fact invisible, is the ruler of those organs
which belong to the external senses, but that the greatest and most perfect
ruler of the whole universe is not the King of kings; that the being who sees,
is not the ruler of those who do not see. (19) We must, therefore, look on all
those bodies in the heaven, which the outward sense regards as gods, not as
independent rulers, since they are assigned the work of lieutenants, being by
their intrinsic nature responsible to a higher power, but by reason of their
virtue not actually called to render in an account of their doings. (20) So
that, transcending all visible essence by means of our reason, let us press
forward to the honor of that everlasting and invisible Being who can be
comprehended and appreciated by the mind alone; who is not only the God of all
gods, whether appreciable only by the intellect or visible to the outward
senses, but is also the creator of them all. And if any one gives up the service
due to the everlasting and uncreated God, transferring it to any more modern and
created being, let him be set down as mad and as liable to the charge of the
greatest impiety.

IV.
(21) But there are some persons who have given gold and silver to sculptors and
statuaries, as people able to fashion gods for them. And they, taking the
lifeless materials and using a mortal model, have (which is a most extraordinary
thing) made gods, as far as appearance went, and have built temples and erected
altars, and dedicated them to them, honoring them with excessive pains and
diligence, with sacrifices and processions, and all kinds of other sacred
ceremonies and purifications; the priests and priestesses exciting themselves to
the very extremity of their power to extend this kind of pride and vanity. (22)
To whom the Father of the universe thus speaks, saying: "You shall not make
to yourselves gods of silver and Gold;"{4}{Exodus 20:20.} all but teaching
them in express words, "You shall not make to yourselves any gods whatever
of this or of any other material, nor shall you worship anything made with
hands," being forbidden expressly with respect to the two most excellent
materials; for silver and gold are esteemed the most honorable of all materials.
(23) And, besides this distinct prohibition, there is another meaning which
appears to me to be intended to be figuratively conveyed under these words,
which is one of very great influence as contributing to the formation of the
moral character, and which convicts in no slight degree those who are covetous
of money and who seek to procure silver and gold from all quarters, and when
they have acquired it treasure it up, as though it were some divine image, in
their inmost shrines, looking upon it as the cause of all good things and of all
happiness. (24) And all the poor men that are possessed of that terrible
disease, the love of money, but who, from not having any riches of their own
which they can think worthy of their attention, fix their admiration on the
wealth of their neighbors, and, for the purpose of offering adoration to it,
come the first thing in the morning to the houses of those who have abundance,
as if they were noble temples at which they were going to offer prayers, and to
entreat blessings from their owners as if from the gods. (25) And to these men,
Moses says, in another passage, "You shall not follow images, and you shall
not make to yourselves molten Gods."{5}{Leviticus 19:4.} Teaching them, by
figurative language, that it is not right to pay such honors to wealth as one
would pay to the gods; for those celebrated materials of wealth, silver and
gold, are made to be used, which, however, the multitude follows, looking upon
them as the only causes of wealth which is proverbially called blind, and the
especial sources of happiness. (26) These are the things which Moses calls
idols, resembling shadows and phantoms, and having about them nothing strong, or
trustworthy, or lasting; for they are tossed about like the unstable wind, and
are subject to all kinds of variations and changes. And the greatest possible
proof of this is that, when people have not at all expected it, it suddenly has
descended upon them; and, again, when they fancied that they had taken firm hold
of it, it has flown away. And when, indeed, it is present, then images appear as
in a mirror, deceiving the outward senses and imposing upon them with traps, and
appearing as if they would last for a long time, while in reality they do not
endure. (27) And why need I explain how unstable the wealth and pride of men
are, which vain opinions decorate with showy colors? For, before now, some men
have existed who have affirmed that all other animals and plants, of which there
is any birth or any decay, are in one continual and incessant state of
transition, and that the external sense of this transition is somewhat
indistinct, inasmuch as the swiftness of nature surpasses the very quickest and
most precise glance of the vision.

V.
(28) But not only are wealth, and glory, and all other such things, mere
phantoms and unsubstantial images, but also all the other deceits which the
inventors of fables have devised, puffing themselves up by reason of their
ingenuity, while they have been raising a fortification of false opinion in
opposition to the truth, bringing in God as if by some theatrical machine, in
order to prevent the everlasting and only true existing God from being consigned
to oblivion, are so likewise. But such men have adapted their falsehood to
melodies, and rhythm, and metres, with a reference to what is persuasive,
thinking that by these means they should easily cajole all who read their works.
(29) Not but what they have also joined to themselves the arts of statuary and
painting as copartners in their system of deceit, in order that, bringing over
the spectators by well-fabricated appearances of colors, and forms, and
distinctive qualities, and having won over by their allurements those principal
outward senses of sight and hearing, the one by the exquisite beauty of lifeless
forms, and the other by a poetical harmony of numbers--they may ravish the
unstable soul and render it feeble, and deprive it of any settled foundation.
(30) On this account, Moses, being well aware that pride had by that time
advanced to a very high pitch of power, and that it was well guarded by the
greater part of mankind, and that too not from compulsion but of their own
accord, and fearing lest those men who are admirers of uncorrupted and genuine
piety may be carried away as by a torrent, stamped a deep impression on the
minds of men, engraving piety on them, in order that the impression he thus made
might not become confused or weakened, so as at last to become wholly effaced by
time. And he is constantly prophesying and telling his people that there is one
God, the creator and maker of the universe; and at other time he teaches them
that he is the Lord of all created things, since all that is firm, and solid,
and really stable and sure, is by nature so framed as to be connected with him
alone. (31) And it is said in the scriptures that, "Those that are attached
to the living God do all Live."{6}{Deuteronomy 4:4.} Is not this, then, a
thrice happy life, a thrice blessed existence, to be contented with performing
due service to the most venerable Cause of all things, and not to think fit to
serve his subordinate ministers and door-keepers in preference to the King
himself? And this life is an immortal one, and is recorded as one of great
duration in the pillars of nature. And it is inevitably necessary that these
writings should last to all eternity with the world itself.

VI.
(32) But the Father and Ruler of the universe is a being whose character it is
difficult to arrive at by conjecture and hard to comprehend; but still we must
not on that account shrink from an investigation of it. Now, in the
investigations which are made into the nature of God, there are two things of
the greatest importance, about which the intellect of the man who devotes
himself to philosophy in a genuine spirit is perplexed. One is, whether there is
any Deity at all? this question arises from the atheism (which is the greatest
of all vices) of those men who study philosophy. The other question is,
supposing there to be a God, what he is as to his essence? Now the former
question it is not very difficult to determine; but the second is not only
difficult, but perhaps impossible. We must, however, consider both these
matters. (33) It has invariably happened that the works which they have made
have been, in some degree, the proofs of the character of the workmen; for who
is there who, when he looks upon statues or pictures, does not at once form an
idea of the statuary or painter himself? And who, when he beholds a garment, or
a ship, or a house, does not in a moment conceive a notion of the weaver, or
shipbuilder, or architect, who has made them? And if any one comes into a
well-ordered city, in which all parts of the constitution are exceedingly well
arranged and regulated, what other idea will he entertain but that this city is
governed by wise and virtuous rulers? (34) He, therefore, who comes into that
which is truly the greatest of cities, namely, this world, and who beholds all
the land, both the mountain and the champaign district full of animals, and
plants, and the streams of rivers, both overflowing and depending on the wintry
floods, and the steady flow of the sea, and the admirable temperature of the
air, and the varieties and regular revolutions of the seasons of the year; and
then too the sun and moon, the rulers of day and night, and the revolutions and
regular motions of all the other planets and fixed stars, and of the whole
heaven; would he not naturally, or I should rather say, of necessity, conceive a
notion of the Father, and creator, and governor of all this system; (35) for
there is no artificial work whatever which exists of its own accord? And the
world is the most artificial and skilfully made of all works, as if it had been
put together by some one who was altogether accomplished and most perfect in
knowledge. It is in this way that we have received an idea of the existence of
God.

VII.
(36) Again, even if it is very difficult to ascertain and very hard properly to
comprehend, we must still, as far as it is possible, investigate the nature of
his essence; for there is no employment more excellent than that of searching
out the nature of the true God, even though the discovery may transcend all
human ability, since the very desire and endeavor to comprehend it is able by
itself to furnish indescribable pleasures and delights. (37) And the witnesses
of this fact are those who have not merely tasted philosophy with their
outermost lips, but who have abundantly feasted on its reasonings and its
doctrines; for the reasoning of these men, being raised on high far above the
earth, roams in the air, and soaring aloft with the sun, and moon, and all the
firmament of heaven, being eager to behold all the things that exist therein,
finds its power of vision somewhat indistinct from a vast quantity of unalloyed
light being poured over it, so that the eye of his soul becomes dazzled and
confused by the splendour. (38) But he does not on that account faint and
renounce the task which he has undertaken, but goes on with invincible
determination towards the sight which he considers attainable, as if he were a
competitor at the games, and were striving for the second prize, though he has
missed the first. And guess and conjecture are inferior to true perception, as
are all those notions which are classed under the description of reasonable and
plausible opinions. (39) Though, therefore, we do not know and cannot accurately
ascertain what each of the stars is as to its pure and real essence, still we
are eager to investigate the subject, delighting in probable reasonings, because
of the fondness for learning which is implanted in our nature. (40) And so in
the same way, though we cannot attain to a distinct conception of the truly
living God, we still ought not to renounce the task of investigating his
character, because even if we fail to make the discovery, the very search itself
is intrinsically useful and an object of deserved ambition; since no one ever
blames the eyes of the body because they are unable to look upon the sun itself,
and therefore shrink from the brilliancy which is poured upon them from its
beams, and therefore look down upon the earth, shrinking from the extreme
brilliancy of the rays of the sun.

VIII.
(41) Which that interpreter of the divine word, Moses, the man most beloved by
God, having a regard to, besought God and said, "Show me thyself"--all
but urging him, and crying out in loud and distinct words--"that thou hast
a real being and existence the whole world is my teacher, assuring me of the
fact and instructing me as a son might of the existence of his father, or the
work of the existence of the workman. But, though I am very desirous to know
what thou art as to thy essence, I can find no one who is able to explain to me
anything relating to this branch of learning in any part of the universe
whatever. (42) On which account, I beg and entreat of thee to receive the
supplication of a man who is thy suppliant and devoted to God's service, and
desirous to serve thee alone; for as the light is not known by the agency of
anything else, but is itself its own manifestation, so also thou must alone be
able to manifest thyself. For which reason I hope to receive pardon, if, from
want of any one to teach me, I am so bold as to flee to thee, desiring to
receive instruction from thyself." (43) But God replied, "I receive,
indeed, your eagerness, inasmuch as it is praiseworthy; but the request which
you make is not fitting to be granted to any created being. And I only bestow
such gifts as are appropriate to him who receives them; for it is not possible
for a man to receive all that it is easy for me to give. On which account I give
to him who is deserving of my favor all the gifts which he is able to receive.
(44) But not only is the nature of mankind, but even the whole heaven and the
whole world is unable to attain to an adequate comprehension of me. So know
yourself, and be not carried away with impulses and desires beyond your power;
and let not a desire of unattainable objects carry you away and keep you in
suspense. For you shall not lack anything which may be possessed by you."
(45) When Moses heard this he betook himself to a second supplication, and said,
"I am persuaded by thy explanations that I should not have been able to
receive the visible appearance of thy form. But I beseech thee that I may, at
all events, behold the glory that is around thee. And I look upon thy glory to
be the powers which attend thee as thy guards, the comprehension of which having
escaped me up to the present time, worketh in me no slight desire of a thorough
understanding of it." (46) But God replied and said, "The powers which
you seek to behold are altogether invisible, and appreciable only by the
intellect; since I myself am invisible and only appreciable by the intellect.
And what I call appreciable only by the intellect are not those which are
already comprehended by the mind, but those which, even if they could be so
comprehended, are still such that the outward senses could not at all attain to
them, but only the very purest intellect. (47) And though they are by nature
incomprehensible in their essence, still they show a kind of impression or copy
of their energy and operation; as seals among you, when any wax or similar kind
of material is applied to them, make an innumerable quantity of figures and
impressions, without being impaired as to any portion of themselves, but still
remaining unaltered and as they were before; so also you must conceive that the
powers which are around me invest those things which have no distinctive
qualities with such qualities, and those which have no forms with precise forms,
and that without having any portion of their own everlasting nature dismembered
or weakened. (48) And some of your race, speaking with sufficient correctness,
call them ideas (ideai), since they give a peculiar character (idiopoiousi) to
every existing thing, arranging what had previously no order, and limiting, and
defining, and fashioning what was before destitute of all limitation, and
defination, and fashion; and, in short, in all respects changing what was bad
into a better condition. (49) "Do not, then, ever expect to be able to
comprehend me nor any one of my powers, in respect of our essence. But, as I
have said, I willingly and cheerfully grant unto you such things as you may
receive. And this gift is to call you to the beholding of the world and all the
things that are in it, which must be comprehended, not indeed by the eyes of the
body, but by the sleepless vision of the soul. (50) The desire of wisdom alone
is continual and incessant, and it fills all its pupils and disciples with
famous and most beautiful doctrines." When Moses heard this he did not
cease from his desire, but he still burned with a longing for the understanding
of invisible things. [...]{7}{mangey thinks that there is a considerable hiatus
here. What follows relates to the regulations respecting proselytes, which as
the text stands is in no way connected with what has gone before about the
worship of God.}

IX.
(51) And he receives all persons of a similar character and disposition, whether
they were originally born so, or whether they have become so through any change
of conduct, having become better people, and as such entitled to be ranked in a
superior class; approving of the one body because they have not defaced their
nobility of birth, and of the other because they have thought fit to alter their
lives so as to come over to nobleness of conduct. And these last he calls
proselytes (proseÁlytous), from the fact of their having come over (proseleÁlythenai)
to a new and Godfearing constitution, learning to disregard the fabulous
inventions of other nations, and clinging to unalloyed truth. (52) Accordingly,
having given equal rank and honor to all those who come over, and having granted
to them the same favors that were bestowed on the native Jews, he recommends
those who are ennobled by truth not only to treat them with respect, but even
with especial friendship and excessive benevolence. And is not this a reasonable
recommendation? What he says is this. "Those men, who have left their
country, and their friends, and their relations for the sake of virtue and
holiness, ought not to be left destitute of some other cities, and houses, and
friends, but there ought to be places of refuge always ready for those who come
over to religion; for the most effectual allurement and the most indissoluble
bond of affectionate good will is the mutual honoring of the one God." (53)
Moreover, he also enjoins his people that, after they have given the proselytes
an equal share in all their laws, and privileges, and immunities, on their
forsaking the pride of their fathers and forefathers, they must not give a
license to their jealous language and unbridled tongues, blaspheming those
beings whom the other body looks upon as gods, lest the proselytes should be
exasperated at such treatment, and in return utter impious language against the
true and holy God; for from ignorance of the difference between them, and by
reason of their having from their infancy learnt to look upon what was false as
if it had been true, and having been bred up with it, they would be likely to
err. (54) And there are some of the Gentiles, who, not attending to the honor
due to the one God alone, deserve to be punished with extreme severity of
punishment, as having forsaken the most important classification of piety and
holiness, and as having chosen darkness in preference to the most brilliant
light, and having rendered their own intellect blind when it might have seen
clearly. (55) And it is well that a charge should be given to all those who have
any admiration for virtue to inflict all such punishment out of hand without any
delay, not bringing them before either any judgment seat, or any council, or any
bench of magistrates, but giving vent to their own disposition which hates evil
and loves God, so as to chastise the impious with implacable rigour, looking
upon themselves as everything for the time being, counsellors, and judges, and
generals, and members of the assembly, and accusers, and witnesses, and laws,
and the people; that so, since there is no conceivable hindrance, they may with
all their company put themselves forward fearlessly to fight as the champions of
holiness.

X.
(56) There is, in the history of the law, a record of one man who ventured on
this exploit of noble daring, for when he saw some men connecting themselves
with foreign women, and by reason of their allurements neglecting all their
national customs and laws, and practising fabulous ceremonies, he was seized
with a sudden enthusiasm in the presence of the whole multitude; and driving
away all those on each side who were collected to see the sight, he slew one man
who was so daring as to put himself forward as the leader and chief of this
transgression of the law (for the impious deed had been already displayed and
made a public exhibition of), and while he was openly performing sacrifices to
images and unholy idols, he, I say, without being influenced by any fear, slew
him, together with the woman who was with him; the one on account of his
inclination to learn those things which it would have been more advantageous for
him not to have learnt, and the woman because she was his preceptress in evil.
(57) This action being done of a sudden, in the warm impetuosity of the moment,
admonished a vast multitude of those who were prepared to commit similar
follies; therefore God, having praised this virtuous exploit done in this
manner, out of a voluntary and spontaneous zeal, recompensed the doer with two
rewards, namely, peace and the priesthood. With the one, because he judged him
who had thus voluntarily encountered a contest for the sake of the honor of his
God worthy to enjoy a life safe from war; and with the other, because the
priesthood is the most fitting honor for a pious man, who professes an eagerness
for the service of the Father of all, to serve whom is not only better than all
freedom, but even than royal authority. (58) But some men have gone to such a
pitch of extravagant madness, that they have left themselves no retreat or way
to repentance, but hasten onwards to the slavery and service of images made by
hands, confessing it in distinct characters, not written on paper, as is the
custom in the case of slaves, but branding the characters deep on their persons
with a burning iron, in order that they may remain ineffacebly, for these things
are not dimmed or weakened by time.

XI.
(59) And the most sacred Moses appears to have preserved the same object and
intention in all other cases whatever, being a lover and also a teacher of
truth, which he desires to stamp and to impress upon all his disciples,
expelling all false opinions, and compelling them to settle far from their
minds. (60) At all events, knowing that the act of divination co-operates in no
slight degree with the errors of the lives of the multitude, so as to lead them
out of the right way, he did not suffer his disciples to use any species of it
whatever, but drove all who paid it any observance far from his everlasting
constitution, and banished all sacrificers and purifiers, and augurs, and
soothsayers, and enchanters, and men who applied themselves to the art of
prophesying from sounds; (61) for all these men are but guessers at what is
probable and likely, at different times adopting different notions from the same
appearances, because the subjects of their art have no stable and constant
character, and because the intellect has never devised any accurate test by
which those opinions which are approved may be examined. (62) And all these
things are but the furniture of impiety. How so? Because he who attends to them,
and who allows himself to be influenced by them, disregards the cause of all
things, looking upon those things alone as the causes of all things, whether
good or evil; and he does not perceive that he is making all the cares of life
to depend upon the most unstable supports, upon the motion of birds and feathers
in the air, in this and that direction; and upon the paths of reptiles, crawling
along the ground, which creep forth out of their holes in quest of food; and
even upon entrails, and blood, and dead corpses, which, the moment that they are
deprived of life, fall to pieces and become confused; and being deprived of
their original nature which belonged to them, are changed, and subjected to a
transformation for the worse. (63) For he thinks it right, that the man who is
legally enrolled as a citizen of his constitution must be perfect, not indeed in
those things in which the multitude is educated, such as divination, and augury,
and plausible conjectures, but in the observances due to God, which have nothing
doubtful or uncertain about them, but only indubitable and naked truth. (64) And
since there is implanted in all men a desire of the knowledge of future events,
and as, on account of this desire, they have recourse to sacrifices and to other
species of divination, as if by these means they would be able to search out and
discover the truth (but these things are, in reality, full of indistinctness and
uncertainty, and are continually being convicted by themselves). He, with great
energy, forbids his disciples to apply themselves to such sources of knowledge;
and he says, that if they are truly pious they shall not be deprived of a proper
knowledge of the future; (65) but that some other Prophet{8}{this prophecy,
Deuteronomy 18:18, is always looked upon as one of the most remarkable of the
early prophecies of our Savior.} will appear to them on a sudden, inspired like
himself, who will preach and prophesy among them, saying nothing of his own (for
he who is truly possessed and inspired, even when he speaks, is unable to
comprehend what he is himself saying), but that all the words that he should
utter would proceed from him as if another was prompting him; for the prophets
are interpreters of God, who is only using their voices as instruments, in order
to explain what he chooses. Having now then said this, and other things like
this, concerning the proper idea to be entertained of the one real, and true,
and living God; he proceeds to express in what manner one ought to pay him the
honors that are his Due.{9}

XII.
(66) We ought to look upon the universal world as the highest and truest temple
of God, having for its most holy place that most sacred part of the essence of
all existing things, namely, the heaven; and for ornaments, the stars; and for
priests, the subordinate ministers of his power, namely, the angels, incorporeal
souls, not beings compounded of irrational and rational natures, such as our
bodies are, but such as have the irrational parts wholly cut out, being
absolutely and wholly intellectual, pure reasonings, resembling the unit. (67)
But the other temple is made with hands; for it was desirable not to cut short
the impulses of men who were eager to bring in contributions for the objects of
piety, and desirous either to show their gratitude by sacrifices for such good
fortune as had befallen them, or else to implore pardon and forgiveness for
whatever errors they might have committed. He moreover foresaw that there could
not be any great number of temples built either in many different places, or in
the same place, thinking it fitting that as God is one, his temple also should
be one. (68) In the next place, he does not permit those who desire to perform
sacrifices in their own houses to do so, but he orders all men to rise up, even
from the furthest boundaries of the earth, and to come to this temple, by which
command he is at the same time testing their dispositions most severely; for he
who was not about to offer sacrifice in a pure and holy spirit would never
endure to quit his country, and his friends, and relations, and emigrate into a
distant land, but would be likely, being under the influence of a more powerful
attraction than that towards piety, to continue attached to the society of his
most intimate friends and relations as portions of himself, to which he was most
closely attached. (69) And the most evident proof of this may be found in the
events which actually took place. For innumerable companies of men from a
countless variety of cities, some by land and some by sea, from east and from
west, from the north and from the south, came to the temple at every festival,
as if to some common refuge and safe asylum from the troubles of this most busy
and painful life, seeking to find tranquility, and to procure a remission of and
respite from those cares by which from their earliest infancy they had been
hampered and weighed down, (70) and so, by getting breath as it were, to pass a
brief time in cheerful festivities, being filled with good hopes and enjoying
the leisure of that most important and necessary vacation which consists in
forming a friendship with those hitherto unknown, but now initiated by boldness
and a desire to honor God, and forming a combination of actions and a union of
dispositions so as to join in sacrifices and libations to the most complete
confirmation of mutual good will.

XIII.
(71) Of this temple the outer circuit, being the most extensive both in length
and width, was fortified by fortifications adorned in a most costly manner. And
each of them is a double portico, built and adorned with the finest materials of
wood and stone, and with abundant supplies of all kinds, and with the greatest
skill of the workmen, and the most diligent care on the part of the
superintendants. But the inner circuits were less extensive, and the fashion of
their building and adorning was more simple. (72) And in the centre was the
temple itself, beautiful beyond all possible description, as one may conjecture
from what is now seen around on the outside; for what is innermost is invisible
to every human creature except the high priest alone, and even he is enjoined
only to enter that holy place once in each year. Everything then is invisible.
For he carries in a brasier full of coals and frankincense; and then, when a
great smoke proceeds from it, as is natural, and when everything all around is
enveloped in it, then the sight of men is clouded, and checked, and prevented
from penetrating in, being wholly unable to pierce the cloud. (73) But, being
very large and very lofty, although built in a very low situation, it is not
inferior to any of the greatest mountains around. The buildings of it are of
most exceeding beauty and magnificence, so as to be universal objects of
admiration to all who behold them, and especially to all foreigners who travel
to those parts, and who, comparing them with their own public edifices, marvel
both at the beauty and sumptuousness of this one. (74) But there is no grove of
plantation in the space which surrounds it, in accordance with the prohibitions
of the law, which for many reasons forbid this. In the first place, because a
building which is truly a temple does not aim at pleasure and seductive
allurements, but at a rigid and austere sanctity. Secondly, because it is not
proper that those things which conduce to the verdure of trees should be
introduced, such as the dung of irrational animals and of men. Thirdly, because
those trees which do not admit of cultivation are of no use, but are as the
poets say, the burden of the earth; while those which do admit of cultivation,
and which are productive of wholesome fruit, draw off the attention of the
fickle-minded from the thoughts of the respect due to the holy place itself, and
to the ceremonies in which they are engaged. (75) And besides these reasons,
shady places and dense thickets are places of refuge for evil doers, since by
their enveloping them in darkness they give them safety and enable them, as from
an ambuscade, suddenly to fall upon any whom they choose to attack. But wide
spaces, open and uncovered in every direction, where there is nothing which can
hinder the sight, are the most suitable for the distinct sight of all those who
enter and remain in the temple.

XIV.
(76) But the temple has for its revenues not only portions of land, but also
other possessions of much greater extent and importance, which will never be
destroyed or diminished; for as long as the race of mankind shall last, the
revenues likewise of the temple will always be preserved, being coeval in their
duration with the universal world. (77) For it is commanded that all men shall
every year bring their first fruits to the temple, from twenty years old and
upwards; and this contribution is called their ransom. On which account they
bring in the first fruits with exceeding cheerfulness, being joyful and
delighted, inasmuch as simultaneously with their making the offering they are
sure to find either a relaxation from slavery, or a relief from disease, and to
receive in all respects a most sure freedom and safety for the future. (78) And
since the nation is the most numerous of all peoples, it follows naturally that
the first fruits contributed by them must also be most abundant. Accordingly
there is in almost every city a storehouse for the sacred things to which it is
customary for the people to come and there to deposit their first fruits, and at
certain seasons there are sacred ambassadors selected on account of their
virtue, who convey the offerings to the temple. And the most eminent men of each
tribe are elected to this office, that they may conduct the hopes of each
individual safe to their destination; for in the lawful offering of the first
fruits are the hopes of the pious.

XV.
(79) Now there are twelve tribes of the nation, and one of them having been
selected from the others for its excellence has received the priesthood,
receiving this honor as a reward for its virtue, and fidelity, and its devout
soul, which it displayed when the multitude appeared to be running into sin,
following the foolish choices of some persons who persuaded their countrymen to
imitate the vanity of the Egyptians, and the pride of the nations of the land,
who had invented fables about irrational animals, and especially about bulls,
making gods of them. For this tribe did of its own accord go forth and slay all
the leaders of this apostacy from the youth upwards, in which they appeared to
have done a holy action, encountering thus a contest and a labor for the sake of
piety.

XVI.
(80) Now these are the laws which relate to the priests. It is enjoined that the
priest shall be entire and unmutilated, having no blemish on his body, no part
being deficient, either naturally or through mutilation; and on the other hand,
nothing having been superfluous either from his birth or having grown out
subsequently from disease; his skin, also, must never have changed from leprosy,
or wild lichen, or scab, or any other eruption or breaking out; all which things
appear to me to be designed to be symbols of the purity of his soul. (81) For if
it was necessary to examine the mortal body of the priest that it ought not be
imperfect through any misfortune, much more was it necessary to look into his
immortal soul, which they say is fashioned in the form of the living God. Now
the image of God is the Word, by which all the world was made. (82) And after
enjoining that the priest is to be of pure blood, and sprung from fathers of
noble birth, and that he must be perfect in body and soul, laws are enacted also
respecting the garments which the priest must wear when he is about to offer the
sacred sacrifices and to perform the sacred ceremonies. (83) And this dress is a
linen tunic and a girdle, the latter to cover those parts which must not be
displayed in their nakedness near the altar of sacrifice. And the tunic is for
the sake of promptness in performing the requisite ministrations; for they are
but lightly clad, only in their tunics, when they bring their victims, and the
libations, and the other requisite offerings for sacrifice, being apparelled so
as to admit of unhesitating celerity. (84) But the high priest is commanded to
wear a similar dress when he goes into the holy of holies to offer incense,
because linen is not made of any animal that dies, as woollen garments are. He
is also commanded to wear another robe also, having very beautiful embroidery
and ornament upon it, so that it may seem to be a copy and representation of the
world. And the description of the ornament is a clear proof of this; (85) for in
the first place the whole of the round robe is of hyacinthine color, a tunic
reaching to the feet, being an emblem of the air, since the air also is by
nature black, and in a manner may be said to be reaching to the feet, as it is
extended from above from the regions about the moon, to the lowest places of the
earth. (86) Next there was a woven garment in the form of a breastplate upon it,
and this was a symbol of the heaven; for on the points of the shoulders are two
emerald stones of most exceeding value, one on one side and one on the other,
each perfectly round and single on each side, as emblems of the hemispheres, one
of which is above the earth and the other under the earth. (87) Then on his
chest there are twelve precious stones of different colors, arranged in four
rows of three stones in each row, being fashioned so as an emblem of the zodiac.
For the zodiac also consists of twelve animals, and so divides the four seasons
of the year, allotting three animals to each season. (88) And the whole place is
very correctly called the logeum (logeion), since every thing in heaven has been
created and arranged in accordance with right reason (logois) and proportion;
for there is absolutely nothing there which is devoid of reason. And on the
logeum he embroiders two woven pieces of cloth, calling the one manifestation
and the other truth. (89) And by the one which he calls truth he expresses
figuratively that it is absolutely impossible for falsehood to enter any part of
heaven, but that it is entirely banished to the parts around the earth, dwelling
among the souls of impious men. And by that which he calls manifestation he
implies that the natures in heaven make manifest every thing that takes place
among us, which of themselves would be perfectly and universally unknown. (90)
And the clearest proof of this is that if there were no light, and if the sun
did not shine, it would be impossible for the indescribable variety of qualities
of bodies to be seen, and for all the manifold differences of colors and forms
to be distinguished from one another. And what else could exhibit to us the days
and the nights, and the months and the years, and in short the divisions of
time, but the harmonious and inconceivable revolutions of the sun, and moon, and
other stars? (91) And what could exhibit the true nature of number, except those
same bodies just mentioned in accordance with the observation of the combination
of the parts of time? And what else could have cut the paths through the ocean
and through such numerous and vast seas, and shown them to navigators, except
the changes and periodical appearances of the stars? And wise men have observed,
(92) also, an innumerable quantity of other circumstances, and have recorded
them, conjecturing from the heavenly bodies the advent of calm weather and of
violent storms, and the fertility or barrenness of crops, and the mild or
violently hot summers, and whether the winters will be severe or spring-like,
whether there will be droughts or abundance of rain, whether the flocks and
trees will be fruitful, or on the contrary barren, and all such matters as
these. For the signs of every thing on earth are engraved and firmly fixed in
heaven.

XVII.
(93) And besides this, golden pomegranates are attached to the lower parts of
the tunic, reaching to the feet, and bells and borders embroidered with flowers.
And these things are the emblems of earth and of water; the flowers are the
emblems of the earth, inasmuch as it is out of it that they all rise and derive
strength to bloom. And the Pomegranates{10}{the Greek for a pomegranate is rhoia,
or rhoiskos, which Philo imagines to be derived from rheoÁ, "to
flow."} as above mentioned are the emblems of water, being so named from
the flowing of the stream. And the harmony, and concord, and unison of sound of
the different parts of the world is betokened by the bells. (94) And the
arrangement is a very excellent one; for the upper garment, on which the stones
are placed, which is called the breast-plate, is a representation of heaven,
because the heaven also is the highest of all things. And the tunic that reaches
to the feet is in every part of a hyacinthine color, since the air also is
black, and is placed in the second classification next in honor to the heaven.
And the embroidered flowers and pomegranates are on the hem, because the earth
and water have been assigned the lowest situation in the universe. (95) This is
the arrangement of the sacred dress of the high priest, being a representation
of the universe, a marvelous work to be beheld or to be contemplated. For it has
an appearance thoroughly calculated to excite astonishment, such as no
embroidered work conceived by man ever was for variety and costly magnificence;
(96) and it also attracts the intellect of philosophers to examine its different
parts. For God intends that the high priest should in the first place have a
visible representation of the universe about him, in order that from the
continual sight of it he may be reminded to make his own life worthy of the
nature of the universe, and secondly, in order that the whole world may
co-operate with him in the performance of his sacred rites. And it is
exceedingly becoming that the man who is consecrated to the service of the
Father of the world should also bring his son to the service of him who has
begotten him. (97) There is also a third symbol contained in this sacred dress,
which it is important not to pass over in silence. For the priests of other
deities are accustomed to offer up prayers and sacrifices solely for their own
relations, and friends, and fellow citizens. But the high priest of the Jews
offers them up not only on behalf of the whole race of mankind, but also on
behalf of the different parts of nature, of the earth, of water, of air, and of
fire; and pours forth his prayers and thanksgivings for them all, looking upon
the world (as indeed it really is) as his country, for which, therefore, he is
accustomed to implore and propitiate its governor by supplications and prayers,
beseeching him to give a portion of his own merciful and humane nature to the
things which he has created.

XVIII.
(98) After he has given these precepts, he issues additional commandments, and
orders him, whenever he approaches the altar and touches the sacrifices, at the
time when it is appointed for him to perform his sacred ministrations, not to
drink wine or any other strong drink, on account of four most important reasons,
hesitation, and forgetfulness, and sleep, and folly. (99) For the intemperate
man relaxes the powers of his body, and renders his limbs more slow of motion,
and makes his whole body more inclined to hesitation, and compels it by force to
become drowsy. And he also relaxes the energies of his soul, and so becomes the
cause to it of forgetfulness and folly. But in the case of abstemious men all
the parts of the body are lighter, and as such more active and moveable, and the
outer senses are more pure and unalloyed, and the mind is gifted with a more
acute sight, so that it is able to see things beforehand, and never forgets what
it has previously seen; (100) in short, therefore, we must look upon the use of
wine to be a most unprofitable thing for all the purposes of life, inasmuch as
by it the soul is weighed down, the outward senses are dimmed, and the body is
enervated. For it does not leave any one of our faculties free and
unembarrassed, but is a hindrance to every one of them, so as to impede its
attaining that object to which it is by nature fitted. But in sacred ceremonies
and holy rites the mischief is most grievous of all, in proportion as it is
worse and more intolerable to sin with respect to God than with respect to man.
On which account it probably is that it is commanded to the priest to offer up
sacrifices without wine, in order to make a difference and distinction between
sacred and profane things, and pure and impure things, and lawful and unlawful
things.

XIX.
(101) But since the priest was a man before he was a priest, and since he is of
necessity desirous to indulge the appetites which prompt him to seek for the
connections of love, he procures for him a marriage with a pure virgin, and one
who is born of pure parents, and grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, selected
for their excellency with reference both to their virtue and to their noble
birth. (102) For God does not allow him even to look upon a harlot, or a profane
body or soul, or upon any one who, having put away her pursuit of gain, now
wears an elegant and modest appearance, because such a one is unholy in respect
of her former profession and way of life; though in other respects she may be
looked upon as honorable, by reason of her having purified herself of her former
evil courses. For repentance for past sins is a thing to be praised; and no one
else need be forbidden to marry her, only let her not come near a priest. For
the especial property of the priesthood is justice and purity, which from the
first beginning of its creation to the end, seeks a concord utterly
irreproachable. (103) For it would be mere folly that some men should be
excluded from the priesthood by reason of the scars which exist on their bodies
from ancient wounds, which are the emblem of misfortune indeed, but not of
wickedness; but that those persons who, not at all out of necessity but from
their own deliberate choice, have made a market of their beauty, when at last
they slowly repent, should at once after leaving their lovers become united to
priests, and should come from brothels and be admitted into the sacred
precincts. For the scars and impressions of their old offences remain not the
less in the souls of those who repent. (104) On which account it is wisely and
truly said in another passage, that "One may not bring the hire of a harlot
into the Temple."{11}{Deuteronomy 23:18.} And yet the money is not in
itself liable to any reproach, except by reason of the woman who received it,
and the action for which it was given to her. How then could one possibly admit
those women to consort with priests whose very money is looked upon as profane
and base, even though as to its material and stamp it may be good and lawful
money?

XX.
(105) The regulations, therefore, are laid down with precision in this manner
for the high priest, so that he is not allowed either to marry a widow, nor one
who is left desolate after the death of the man to whom she has been espoused,
nor one who has been divorced from a husband who is still alive, in order that
the sacred seed may be sown for the first time in a field which is hitherto
untrodden and pure, and that his offspring may have no admixture of the blood of
any other house. And in the second place, in order that the pair coming together
with souls which have as yet known no defilement or perversion, may easily form
their dispositions and characters in a virtuous manner. For the minds of virgins
are easily attracted and drawn over to virtue, being exceedingly ready to be
taught. (106) But the woman who has had experience of another husband is very
naturally less inclined to obedience and to instruction, inasmuch as she has not
a soul perfectly pure, like thoroughly smooth wax, so as to receive distinctly
the doctrines which are to be impressed upon it, but one which is to a certain
degree rough from the impressions which have been already stamped upon it, which
are difficult to be effaced, and so remain, and do not easily receive any other
impression, or if they do they render it confused by the irregularity of their
own surface. (107) Let the high priest, therefore, take a pure virgin to be his
wife; I say a virgin, meaning not only one with whom no other man has even been
connected, but one in connection with whom no other man has ever been named in
reference to the agreement of marriage, even though her body may be pure.

XXI.
(108) But besides this, injunctions are given to the particular and inferior
priests concerning their marriages, which are the very same in most points,
which are given to those who have the supreme priesthood. But they are permitted
with impunity to marry not only maidens but widows also; not, indeed, all
widows, but those whose husbands are dead. For the law thinks it fitting to
remove all quarrels and disputes from the life of the priests. And if they had
husbands living there very likely might be disputes from the jealousy which is
caused by the love of men for women. But when the first husband is dead, then
with him the hostility which could be felt towards the second husband dies also.
(109) And even on other accounts he might have thought that the high priest
ought to be of superior purity and holiness, as in other matters so also in the
connection of marriage, and on this account it may have been that God only
allowed the high priest to marry a virgin. But to the priests of the second rank
he remitted something of the rigour of his regulations concerning the connection
with women, permitting them to marry women who have made trials of other
husbands.

XXII.
(110) And besides these commands, he also defined precisely the family of the
women who might be married by the high priest, commanding him to marry not
merely a woman who was a virgin, but also one who was a priestess, the daughter
of a priest, that so both bridegroom and bride might be of one house, and in a
manner of one blood, so as to display a most lasting harmony and union of
disposition during the whole of their lives. (111) The others also were
permitted to marry women who were not the daughters of priests, partly because
their purificatory sacrifices are of but small importance, and partly because he
was not willing entirely to disunite and separate the whole nation from the
order of the priesthood; for which reason he did not prevent the other priests
from making intermarriages with any of their countrywomen, as that is
relationship in the second degree; for sons-in-law are in the place of sons to
their fathersin-law, and fathers-in-law instead of fathers to their sons-in-law.

XXIII.
(112) These, then, are the ordinances which were established respecting
marriage, and respecting what greatly resembles marriage, the procreation of
children. But since destruction follows creation, Moses also gave the priests
laws relating to death, {12}{Leviticus 23:1.} commanding them not to permit
themselves to be defiled in respect of all people whatsoever, who might happen
to die, and who might be connected with them through some bond of friendship, or
distant relationship: but allowing them to mourn for six classes only, their
fathers or their mothers, their sons of their daughters, their brothers or their
sisters, provided that these last were virgins; (113) but the high priest he
absolutely forbade to mourn in any case whatever; and may we not say that this
was rightly done? For as to the ministrations which belong to the other priests,
one individual can perform them instead of another, so that, even if some be in
mourning, still none of the usual observances need be omitted; but there is no
one besides the high priest himself, who is permitted to perform his duties
instead of him; for which reason, he must always be kept free from all
defilement, never touching any dead body, in order that, being always ready to
offer up prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the whole world at suitable
seasons, he may continue to fulfil the duties of his office without hindrance.
(114) And otherwise too, besides this consideration, the man who has been
assigned to God, and who has become the leader of his sacred band of
worshippers, ought to be disconnected with, and alienated from, all things of
creation, not being so much the slave of the love of either parents, or
children, or brothers, as either to omit or to delay any one of those holy
actions, which it is by all means better should be done at once; (115) and God
commands the high priest neither to rend his clothes over his very nearest
relations when they die, nor to take from his head the ensign of the priesthood,
nor in short to depart from the holy place on any plea of mourning, that,
showing proper respect to the place, and to the sacred ornaments with which he
himself is crowned, he may show himself superior to pity, and pass the whole of
his life exempt from all sorrow. (116) For the law designs that he should be the
partaker of a nature superior to that of man; inasmuch as he approaches more
nearly to that of the Deity; being, if one must say the plain truth, on the
borders between the two, in order that men may propitiate God by some mediator,
and that God may have some subordinate minister by whom he may offer and give
his mercies and kindnesses to mankind.

XXIV.
(117) After he has said this, he immediately proceeds to lay down laws,
concerning those who are to use the first fruits, "If therefore, any
One,"{13}{Leviticus 21:17.} says he, "should mutilate the priests as
to their eyes, or their feet, or any part of their bodies, or if he should have
received any blemish, let him not partake of the sacred ministrations by reason
of the defects which exist in him, but still let him enjoy those honors which
are common to all the priests, because of his irreproachable nobility of
birth." (118) "Moreover, if any leprosies break out and attack him or
if any one of the priests he afflicted with any flux, let him not touch the
sacred table, nor any of the duties which are set apart for his race, until the
flux stop, or the leprosy change, so that he become again resembling the
complexion of sound Flesh."{14}{Leviticus 22:4.} (119) And, if any priest
do by any chance whatever touch anything that is unclean, or if he should have
impure dreams by night, as is very often apt to be the case, let him during all
that day touch nothing that has been consecrated, but let him wash himself and
the ensuing evening, and after that let him not be hindered from touching them.
(120) And let the sojourner in the priest's house, and the hireling, be
prevented from approaching the first fruits; the sojourner, because it is not
every one who is a neighbor who shares a man's hearth and eats at his table;
{15}{Leviticus 22:10.} for there is reason to fear that some such person may
cast away what is hallowed, using as a cloak for his impiety the pretence of
some unseasonable humanity; for one might not give all men a share of all
things, but only of such as are adapted to those who are to receive them;
otherwise, that which is the most beautiful and most beneficial of all the
things in this life, namely order, will be wasted away and destroyed by that
which is the most mischievous of all things, namely, confusion. (121) For if in
merchant vessels the sailors were to receive an equal share with the pilot of
the ship, and if in ships of war the rowers and the mariners were to receive an
equal share with the captain, and if in military camps the cavalry of the line
were to receive an equal share with their officers, the heavy armed infantry
with their colonels, and the colonels with the generals; again, if in cities the
parties before the court were to be placed on the same footing with the judges,
the committeemen with the ministers, and in short private individuals with the
magistrates, there would be incessant troubles and seditions, and the equality
in words would produce inequality in fact; for it is an unequal measure to give
equal honor to persons who are unequal in rank or desert; and inequality is the
root of all evil. (122) On which account one must not give the honors of the
priests to sojourners, just as one must not give them to any one else, who in
that case, because of their proximity, would be meddling with what they have no
business; for the honor does not belong to the house, but to the race.

XXV.
(123) In like manner, no one must give this sacred honor to a hireling, as his
wages, or as a recompense for his service; for sometimes he who receives it
being unholy will employ it for illegitimate purposes, making the honors due to
purity of birth common, and profaning all the sacred ceremonies and observances
relating to the temple; (124) on which account the law altogether forbids any
foreigner to partake in any degree of the holy things, even if he be a man of
the noblest birth among the natives of the land, and irreproachable as respects
both men and women, in order that the sacred honors may not be adulterated, but
may remain carefully guarded in the family of the priests; (125) for it would be
absurd that the sacrifices and holy ordinances, and all the other sacred
observances pertaining to the altar, should be entrusted not to all men but to
the priests alone; but that the rewards for the performance of those things
should be common and liable to fall to the share of any chance persons, as if it
were reasonable that the priests should be worn out with labors and toils, and
nightly and daily cares, but that the rewards for such pains should be common
and open to those who do nothing. (126) But, he proceeds, let the priest who is
his master give to the slave who is born in his house, and to him who has been
purchased with money, a share of meat and drink from the first fruits. In the
first place, because the master is the only source of supply to the servant, and
the inheritance of the master are the sacred offices of humanity, by which the
slave must necessarily be supported. (127) In the second place, because it is by
all means necessary that they should not do what is to be done unwillingly; and
servants, even though we may not like it, since they are always about us and
living with us, preparing meat, and drink, and delicacies for their masters
beforehand, and standing at their tables, and carrying away the fragments that
are left, even though they may not take any openly, will at all events secretly
appropriate some of the victuals, being compelled by necessity to steal, so that
instead of one injury (if indeed it is an injury to their masters that they
should be supported at their expense), they are compelled to add a second to it,
namely, theft; in order that, like thieves, they may enjoy what has been
consecrated by their masters who live irreproachably themselves; which is the
most unreasonable thing possible. (128) Thirdly, one ought to take this also
into consideration, that share of the first fruits will not be neglected merely
because they are distributed to the servants, through their fear of their
masters; for this is sufficient to stop their mouths, preventing the arrogance
of such persons from showing itself.

XXVI.
(129) Having said thus much he proceeds next to put forth a law full of
humanity. If, says he, the daughter of a priest, having married a man who is not
a priest, becomes a widow by the death of her husband, or if she be left
childless while he is still alive, let her return again to her father's house,
to receive her share of the first fruits which she enjoyed when she was a
virgin; {16}{Leviticus 22:12.} for in some degree and in effect she is now also
a virgin, since she has neither husband nor children, and has no other refuge
but her father; (130) but if she has sons or daughters, then the mother must of
necessity be classed with the children; and the sons and daughters, being ranked
as of the family of their father, draw their mother also with them into his
House.{17}

XXVII.
(131) The law did not allot any share of the land to the priests, in order that
they like others might derive revenues from the land, and so possess a
sufficiency of necessary things; but admitting them to an excessive degree of
honor, he said that God was their inheritance, having a reference to the things
offered to God; for the sake of two objects, both that of doing them the highest
honor, since they are thus made partners in those things which are offered up by
pious men, out of gratitude to God; and also in order that they might have no
business about which to trouble themselves except the offices of religion, as
they would have had, if they were forced to take care of their inheritance. And
the following are the rewards and preeminent honors which he assigns to them;
(132) in the first place, that the necessary food for their support shall at all
times be provided for them without any labor or toil of their own; for God
commands those who are making bread, to take of all the fat and of all the
dough, a loaf as first fruits for the use of the priests, making thus, by this
legitimate instruction, a provision for those men who put aside these first
fruits, proceeding in the way that leads to piety; (133) for being accustomed at
all times to offer first fruits of the necessary food, they will thus have an
everlasting recollection of God, than which it is impossible to imagine a
greater blessing; and it follows of necessity, that the first fruits offered by
the most populous of nations must be very plentiful, so that even the very
poorest of the priests, must, in respect of his abundance of all necessary food,
appear to be very wealthy. (134) In the second place, he commands the nation
also to give them the first fruits of their other possessions; a portion of wine
out of each winepress; and of wheat and barley from each threshing floor. And in
like manner they were to have a share of oil from all; the olive trees, and of
eatable fruit from all the fruit trees, in order that they might not pass a
squalid existence, having only barely enough of necessary food to support life,
but that they might have sufficient for a certain degree of comfort and luxury,
and so live cheerfully on abundant means, with all becoming ornament and
refinement. (135) The third honor allotted to them is an assignment of all the
first-born males, of all kinds of land animals which are born for the service
and use of mankind; for these are the things which God commands to be given to
the men consecrated to the priesthood; the offspring of oxen, and sheep, and
goats, namely calves, and lambs, and kids, inasmuch as they both are and are
considered clean, both for the purposes of eating and of sacrifice, but he
orders that money shall be given as a ransom for the young of other animals,
such as horses, and asses and camels, and similar beasts, without disparaging
their real value; (136) and the supplies thus afforded them are very great; for
the people of this nation breed sheep, and cattle, and flocks of all kinds above
all other peoples, separating them with great care into flocks of goats, and
herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and a vast quantity of other troops of
animals of all kinds. (137) Moreover the law, going beyond all these enactments
in their favor, commands the people to bring them the first fruits, not only of
all their possessions of every description, but also of their own lives and
bodies; for the children are separable portions of their parents as one may say;
but if one must tell the plain truth, they are inseparable as being of kindred
blood, [...]{18}{the above passage is quite unintelligible in the Greek, and is
given up by Mangey as irremediably corrupt.} and being bound to them by the
allurements of united good will, and by the indissoluble bonds of nature. (138)
But nevertheless, he consecrates also their own first-born male children after
the fashion of other first fruits, as a sort of thanks-offering for fertility,
and a number of children both existing and hoped for, and wishing at the same
time that their marriages should be not only free from all blame, but even very
deserving of praise, the first fruit arising from which is consecrated to God;
and keeping this in their minds, both husbands and wives ought to cling to
modesty, and to attend to their household concerns, and to cherish unanimity,
agreeing with one another, so that what is called a communion and partnership
may be so in solid truth, not only in word, but likewise in deed. (139) And with
reference to the dedication of the first-born male children, in order that the
parents may not be separated from their children, nor the children from their
parents, he values the first fruits of them himself at a fixed price in money
ordering everyone both poor and rich to contribute an equal sum, not having any
reference to the ability of the contributors, nor to the vigor or beauty of the
children who were born; but considering how much even a very poor man might be
able to give; (140) for since the birth of children happens equally to the most
noble and to the most obscure persons of the race, he thought it just to enact
that their contribution should also be equal, aiming, as I have already said,
particularly to fix a sum which should be in the power of everyone to give.

XXVIII.
(141) After this he also appointed another source of revenue of no insignificant
importance for the priests, bidding them to take the first fruits of every one
of the revenues of the nation namely, the first fruits of the corn, and wine,
and oil, and even of the produce of all the cattle, of the flocks of sheep, and
herds of oxen, and flocks of goats, and of all other animals of all kinds; and
how great an abundance of these animals there must be, any one may conjecture
from the vast populousness of the nation; (142) from all which circumstances it
is plain that the law invests the priests with the dignity and honor that
belongs to kings; since he commands contributions from every description of
possession to be given to them as to rulers; (143) and they are accordingly
given to them in a manner quite contrary to that in which cities usually furnish
them to their rulers; for cities usually furnish them under compulsion, and with
great unwillingness and lamentation, looking upon the collectors of the taxes as
common enemies and destroyers, and making all kinds of different excuses at
different times, and neglecting all laws and ordinances, and with all this
jumbling and evasion do they contribute the taxes and payments which are levied
on them. (144) But the men of this nation contribute their payments to the
priests with joy and cheerfulness, anticipating the collectors, and cutting
short the time allowed for making the contributions, and thinking that they are
themselves receiving rather than giving; and so with words of blessing and
thankfulness, they all, both men and women, bring their offerings at each of the
seasons of the year, with a spontaneous cheerfulness, and readiness, and zeal,
beyond all description.

XXIX.
(145) And these things are assigned to the priests from the possessions of each
individual, but there are also often especial revenues set apart for them
exceedingly suitable for the priests, which are derived from the sacrifices
which are offered up; for it is commanded that two portions from two limbs of
every victim shall be given to the priests, the arm from the limb on the right
side, and the fat from the chest; for the one is a symbol of strength and manly
vigor, and of every lawful action in giving, and taking, and acting: and the
other is an emblem of human gentleness as far as the angry passions are
concerned; (146) for it is said that these passions have their abode in the
chest, since nature has assigned them the breast for their home as the most
suitable place; around which as around a garrison she has thrown, in order more
effectually to secure them from being taken, a very strong fence which is called
the chest, which she has made of many continuous and very strong bones, binding
it firmly with nerves which cannot be broken. (147) But from the victims which
are sacrificed away from the altar, in order to be eaten, it is commanded that
three portions should be given to the priest, an arm, and a jaw-bone, and that
which is called the paunch; the arm for the reason which has been mentioned a
short time ago; the jaw-bone as a first fruit of that most important of all the
members of the body, namely the head, and also of uttered speech, for the stream
of speech could not flow out without the motion of these jaws; for they being
Agitated{19}{the Greek word here used is seioÁ, and the word used for jawbone
is siagoÁn, which Philo appears to think may be derived from seioÁ.} (and it
is very likely from this, that they have derived their name), when they are
struck by the tongue, all the organisation of the voice sounds simultaneously;
(148) and the paunch is a kind of excrescence of the belly. And the belly is a
kind of stable of that irrational animal the appetite, which, being irrigated by
much wine-bibbing and gluttony, is continually washed with incessant provision
of meat and drink, and like a swine is delighted while wallowing in the mire; in
reference to which fact, a very suitable place indeed has been assigned to that
intemperate and most unseemly beast, namely, the place to which all the
superfluities are conveyed. (149) And the opposite to desire is temperance,
which one must endeavor, and labor, and take pains by every contrivance
imaginable to acquire, as the very greatest blessing and most perfect benefit
both to an individual and to the state. (150) Appetite therefore, being a
profane, and impure, and unholy thing, is driven beyond the territories of
virtue, and is banished as it ought to be; but temperance, being a pure and
unblemished virtue, neglecting everything which relates to eating and drinking,
and boasting itself as superior to the pleasures of the belly, may be allowed to
approach the sacred altars, bringing forward as it does the excrescence of the
body, as a memorial that it may be reminded to despise all insatiability and
gluttony, and all those things which excite the appetites to this pitch.

XXX.
(151) And beyond all these things he also orders that the priests who minister
the offering of the sacrifices, shall receive the skins of the whole burnt
offerings (and they amount to an unspeakable number, this being no slight gift,
but one of the most exceeding value and importance), from which circumstances it
is plain, that although he has not given to the priesthood a portion of land as
its inheritance, in the same manner that he has to others, he has yet assigned
to them a more honorable and more untroubled share than any other tribe,
granting them the first fruits of every description of sacrifice and offering.
(152) And to prevent anyone of those who give the offerings, from reproaching
those who receive them, he commands that the first fruits should first of all be
carried into the temple, and then orders that the priests shall take them out of
the temple; for it was suitable to the nature of God, that those who had
received kindness in all the circumstances of life, should bring the first
fruits as thank-offering, and then that he, as a being who was in want of
nothing, should with all dignity and honor bestow them on the servants and
ministers who attend on the service of the temple; for to appear to receive
these things not from men, but from the great Benefactor of all men, appears to
be receiving a gift which has in it no alloy of sadness.

XXXI.
(153) Since, then, these honors are put forth for them, if any of the priests
are in any difficulty while living virtuously and irreproachably, they are at
once accusers of us as disregarding the law, even though they may not utter a
word. For if we were to obey the commands which we have received, and if we were
to take care to give the first fruits as we are commanded, they would not only
have abundance of all necessary things, but would also be filled with all kinds
of supplies calculated for enabling them to live in refinement and luxury. (154)
And if ever at any subsequent time the tribe of the priests is found to be
blessed with a great abundance of all the necessaries and luxuries of life, this
will be a great proof of their common holiness, and of their accurate observance
of the laws and ordinances in every particular. But the neglect of some persons
(for it is not safe to blame every one) is the cause of poverty to those who
have been dedicated to God, and, if one must tell the truth, to the men
themselves also. (155) For to violate the law is injurious to those who offend,
even though it may be an attractive course for a short time; but to obey the
ordinances of nature is most beneficial, even if at the time it may wear a
painful appearance and may show no pleasant character.

XXXII.
(156) Having given all these supplies and revenues to the priests, he did not
neglect those either who were in the second rank of the priesthood; and these
are the keepers of the temple, of whom some are placed at the doors, at the very
entrance of the temple, as door-keepers; and others are within, in the vestibule
of the temple, in order that no one who ought not to do so might enter it,
either deliberately or by accident. Others, again, stand all around, having had
the times of their watches assigned to them by lot, so as to watch by turns
night and day, some being day watchmen and others night watchmen. Others, again,
had charge of the porticoes and of the courts in the open air, and carried out
all the rubbish, taking care of the cleanliness of the temple, and the tenths
were assigned as the wages of all these men; for these tenths are the share of
the keepers of the temple. (157) At all events the law did not permit those who
received them to make use of them, until they had again offered up as first
fruits other tenths as if from their own private property, and before they had
given these to the priests of the superior rank, for then it permitted them to
enjoy them, but before that time it would not allow it. (158) Moreover, the law
allotted to them fortyeight cities, and in every city, suburbs, extending two
hundred cubits all round, for the pasture of their cattle, and for the other
necessary purposes of which cities have need. But of these cities, six were set
apart, some on the near side, and some on the further side of Jordan, three on
each side, as cities of refuge for those who had committed unintentional murder.
(159) For as it was not consistent with holiness for one who had by any means
whatever become the cause of death to any human being to come within the sacred
precincts, using the temple as a place of refuge and as an asylum, Moses gave a
sort of inferior sanctity to the cities above mentioned, allowing them to give
great security, by reason of the privileges and honors conferred upon the
inhabitants, who were to be justified in protecting their suppliants if any
superior power endeavored to bring force against them, not by warlike
preparations, but by rank, and dignity, and honor, which they had from the laws
by reason of the venerable character of the priesthood. (160) But the fugitive,
when he has once got within the borders of the city to which he has fled for
refuge, must be kept close within it, because of the avengers waiting for him on
the outside, being the relations by blood of the man who has been slain, and
who, out of regret for their kinsman, even if he has been slain by one who did
not intend to do so, are still eager for the blood of him who slew him, their
individual and private grief overpowering their accurate notions of what is
right. And should he go forth from the city, let him know that he is going forth
to undoubted destruction; for he will not escape the notice of any one of the
slain man's relations, by whom he will at once be taken in nets and toils, and
so he will perish. (161) And the limit of his banishment shall be the life of
the high priest; and when he is dead, he shall be pardoned and return to his own
city. Moses, having promulgated these and similar laws about the priests,
proceeds to enact others concerning animals, as to what beasts are suitable for
Sacrifice.{20}

XXXIII.
(162) Or the creatures which are fit to be offered as sacrifices, some are land
animals, and some are such as fly through the air. Passing over, therefore, the
infinite varieties of birds, God chose only two classes out of them all, the
turtledove and the pigeon; because the pigeon is by nature the most gentle of
all those birds which are domesticated and gregarious, and the turtle-dove the
most gentle of those which love solitude. (163) Also, passing over the
innumerable troops of land animals, whose very numbers it is not easy to
ascertain, he selected these especially as the best--the oxen, and sheep, and
goats; for these are the most gentle and the most manageable of all animals. At
all events, great herds of oxen, and numerous flocks of goats and sheep, are
easily driven by any one, not merely by any man, but by any little child, when
they go forth to pasture, and in the same way they are brought back to their
folds in good order when the time comes. (164) And of this gentleness, there are
many other proofs, and the most evident are these: that they all feed on
herbage, and that no one of them is carnivorous, and that they have neither
crooked talons, nor any projecting tusks or teeth whatever; for the back parts
of the upper jaw do not hold teeth, but all the incisor teeth are deficient in
them: (165) and, besides these facts, they are of all animals the most useful to
man. Rams are the most useful for the necessary covering of the body; oxen, for
plowing the ground and preparing the arable land for seed, and for the growth of
the crops that shall hereafter come to be threshed out, in order that men may
partake of and enjoy food; and the hair and fleeces of goats, where one is
woven, or the other sewn together, make movable tents for travellers, and
especially for men engaged in military expeditions, whom their necessities
constantly compel to abide outside of the city in the open air.

XXXIV.
(166) And the victims must be whole and entire, without any blemish on any part
of their bodies, unmutilated, perfect in every part, and without spot or defect
of any kind. At all events, so great is the caution used with respect not only
to those who offer the sacrifices, but also to the victims which are offered,
that the most eminent of the priests are carefully selected to examine whether
they have any blemishes or not, and scrutinise them from head to foot,
inspecting not only those parts which are easily visible, but all those which
are more out of sight, such as the belly and the thighs, lest any slight
imperfection should escape notice. (167) And the accuracy and minuteness of the
investigation is directed not so much on account of the victims themselves, as
in order that those who offer them should be irreproachable; for God designed to
teach the Jews by these figures, whenever they went up to the altars, when there
to pray or to give thanks, never to bring with them any weakness or evil passion
in their soul, but to endeavor to make it wholly and entirely bright and clean,
without any blemish, so that God might not turn away with aversion from the
sight of it.

XXXV.
(168) And since, of the sacrifices to be offered, some are on behalf of the
whole nation, and indeed, if one should tell the real truth, in behalf of all
mankind, while others are only in behalf of each individual who has chosen to
offer them; we must speak first of all of those which are for the common welfare
of the whole nation, and the regulations with respect to this kind of sacrifice
are of a marvelous nature. (169) For some of them are offered up every day, and
some on the days of the new moon, and at the festivals of the full moon; others
on days of fasting; and others at three different occasions of festival.
Accordingly, it is commanded that every day the priests should offer up two
lambs, one at the dawn of day, and the other in the evening; each of them being
a sacrifice of thanksgiving; the one for the kindnesses which have been bestowed
during the day, and the other for the mercies which have been vouchsafed in the
night, which God is incessantly and uninterruptedly pouring upon the race of
men. (170) And on the seventh day he doubles the number of victims to be
offered, giving equal honor to equal things, inasmuch as he looks upon the
seventh day as equal in dignity to eternity, since he has recorded it as being
the birthday of the whole world. On which account he has thought fit to make the
sacrifice to be offered on the seventh day, equal to the continuation of what is
usually sacrificed in one day. (171) Moreover, the most fragrant of all incenses
are offered up twice every day in the fire, being burnt within the veil, both
when the sun rises and sets, before the morning and after the evening sacrifice,
so that the sacrifices of blood display our gratitude for ourselves as being
composed of blood, but the offerings of incense show our thankfulness for the
dominant part within us, our rational spirit, which was fashioned after the
archetypal model of the divine image. (172) And loaves are placed on the seventh
day on the sacred table, being equal in number to the months of the year, twelve
loaves, arranged in two rows of six each, in accordance with the arrangement of
the equinoxes; for there are two equinoxes every year, the vernal and the
autumnal, which are each reckoned by periods of six months. At the vernal
equinox all the seeds sown in the ground begin to ripen; about which time, also,
the trees begin to put forth their fruit. And by the autumnal one the fruit of
the trees has arrived at a perfect ripeness; and at this period, again, is the
beginning of seed time. Thus nature, going through a long course of time,
showers gifts after gifts upon the race of man, the symbols of which are the two
sixes of loaves thus placed on the table. (173) And these loaves, also, do
figuratively intimate that most useful of all virtues, temperance; which is
attended by frugality, and economy, and moderation as so many bodyguards, on
account of the pernicious attacks which intemperance and covetousness prepare to
make upon it. For, to a lover of wisdom, a loaf is a sufficient nourishment,
keeping the bodies free from disease, and the intellect sound, and healthy, and
sober. (174) But high seasonings, and cheesecakes, and sweetmeats, and all the
other delicacies which the superfluous skill of confectioners and cooks concoct
to cajole the illiterate, and unphilosophical, and most slavish of all the
outward senses, namely, taste, which is never influenced by any noble sight, or
by any perceptible lesson, but only by desire to indulge the appetites of the
miserable belly, constantly engenders incurable diseases both in the body and
the mind. (175) And with the loaves there is also placed on the table
frankincense and salt. The one as a symbol that there is no sweetmeat more
fragrant and wholesome than economy and temperance, if wisdom is to be the
judge; while salt is an emblem of the duration of all things (for salt preserves
everything over which it is sprinkled), and also of sufficient seasoning. (176)
I know that those men who devote themselves wholly to drinking parties and
banquets, and who care only for costly entertainments, will make a mock at these
things and turn them into ridicule, miserable slaves as they are of birds, and
fishes, and meat, and all such nonsense as that, and not being able to taste of
true freedom, not even in a dream. And all such men are to be disregarded and
despised by those who seek to live in accordance with the will of God, in a
manner pleasing to the true and living God; who, having learnt to despise the
pleasures of the flesh, pursue the delights and luxuries of the mind, having
exercised themselves in the contemplation of the objects of Nature.{21} (177)
After he had ordered these things concerning the seventh day, he said that for
the new moons it is necessary to offer ten whole burntofferings in all: two
young bulls, one ram, seven lambs. For since the month is perfect in which the
moon makes its way through its cycle, he thought that a perfect number of
animals should be Sacrificed.{22}{an alternative would be to understand teleion
as a predicate adjective and supply an einai which would mean "that the
number of animals to be sacrificed should be perfect." The absence of a
definite article before "perfect number" suggests the translation in
the text is preferable.} (178) The number ten is the completely perfect number
which he most appropriately assigned to the animals which have been mentioned:
the two young bulls since there are two motions of the moon as it continually
runs its double-course--the motion of waxing until full moon and the motion of
waning until its conjunction with the sun; one ram since there is one principle
of reason by which the moon waxes and wanes in equal intervals, both as it
increases and diminishes in illumination; the seven lambs because it receives
the perfect shapes in periods of seven days--the half-moon in the first seven
day period after its conjunction with the sun, full moon in the second; and when
it makes its return again, the first is to half-moon, then it ceases at its
conjunction with the sun. (179) With the sacrificial victims he ordered that the
finest wheaten flour mixed with oil be offered and wine in stipulated amounts
for drink-offerings. The reason is that even these are brought to maturity by
the orbits of the moon in the annual seasons, especially as the moon helps to
ripen fruits; wheat and wine and oil--the most helpful substances for life and
the most essential for use by humans--are suitably dedicated together with all
sacrifices. (180) For the feast which begins the sacred Month{23}{the exact
meaning of ieromeÁnia is unclear. The best explanation of the term was
suggested by a scholiast on Pindar Nem. 3.2 who explained that the beginnings of
months were sacred (A. B. Drachmann, Scholia Vetera in Pindari Carmina [3 vols.,
Leipzig
: B. G. Teubner, 1903ű27] 3:42). Thus understood to be Philo's designation for
the feast day which opens the sacred month, it is here consistently translated
"the feast which begins the sacred month."} double sacrifices are
fitly offered since the reason for it is double: one, since it is the new moon;
the other, since it is the feast which begins the sacred month. Regarding the
fact that it is the new moon it is distinctly stated that sacrifices equal to
the other new moons are to be sacrificed. Regarding the fact that it is the
feast which begins the sacred month, the gifts are doubled apart from the young
bulls. For one rather than two is offered since the judge has thought it correct
to use the indivisible nature of the number one instead of the divisible number
two at the beginning of the year. (181) In the first season--he calls springtime
and its equinox the first season--he ordered that a feast which is called
"the feast of unleavened bread" be celebrated for seven days and
declared that every day was equal in honor in religious services. For he
commanded that each day ten whole burnt offerings should be sacrificed just as
they are for the new moons, making the total number of whole burnt offerings
apart from those dealing with the trespass offerings seventy. (182) For he
thought that the same reason governed the relation of the new moon to the month
which governed the relation of the seven days of the feast to the equinox that
took place in the seventh month. As a result he declared sacred both the
beginning of each month and the beginning, consisting of the same number of days
as the new moons, of the aggregate seven months. (183) In the middle of spring
the harvest takes place during which season thank offerings are offered to God
from the field because it has produced fruit in abundance and the crops are
being harvested. This feast is the most publicly celebrated feast and is called
"the feast of the first produce," named etymologically from the
circumstance that the first of the produce, the first fruits, are dedicated at
that time. (184) We are ordered to offer two young bulls as sacrifices, one ram,
and seven lambs--these ten are sacred whole burnt offerings--and in addition,
two lambs as meat for the priests which he calls "lambs of
preservation" since food is preserved for humans out of multiple and varied
circumstances. For destructive forces frequently occur: some by heavy rains,
some by droughts, some by other unspeakably great changes in nature; and again,
some are humanly produced through the invasion of enemies who attempt to lay
waste their neighbors' land. (185) Suitably then, the preservation offerings are
offered to the one who has dispersed all plots as thank offerings. They are
offered with loaves which, after the people have brought them to the altar and
lifted them up to heaven, they give to the priests along with the meat of the
sacrifice of preservation for a most appropriate sacred feast. (186) When the
third season takes place in the seventh month at the autumnal equinox, at the
beginning of the month, the feast which begins the sacred month named "the
feast of trumpets" and which was discussed earlier is celebrated. On the
tenth day the fast takes place which they take seriously--not only those who are
zealous about piety and holiness, but even those who do nothing religious the
rest of the time. For all are astounded, overcome with the sacredness of it; in
fact, at that time the worse compete with the better in selfcontrol and virtue.
(187) The reputation of the day is due to two reasons: one that it is a feast
and the other that it is purification and escape from sins for which anmesty has
been given by the favors of the gracious God who has assigned the same honor to
repentance that he has to not committing a single Sin.{24}{l. Cohn emended meÁden
to meÁde in order to avoid the notion of sinlessness in the text. The
translation follows the MSS since they offer the more difficult reading and this
is a rhetorical statement designed to commend repentance, not make an
observation on human perfection.} (188) Therefore he declared that since it was
a feast the sacrifices should be the same number as those of the feast which
begins the sacred month: a young bull, a ram, and seven lambs. In this way he
mixed the number one with the number seven and lined the end up with the
beginning, for the number seven has been appointed the end of things and the
number one the beginning. He added three sacrifices since it was for
purification. For he ordered that two hegoats and a ram be offered. Then he said
that it was necessary to offer the ram as a whole burnt offering, but to cast
lots for the he-goats. The hegoat selected by lot for God must be sacrificed,
but the other was to be sent out into a pathless and inaccessible desolate place
carrying on himself the curses of those who had committed offenses, but who were
purified by changes for the better and who have washed themselves from their old
lawlessness with a new sense of loyalty to the law. (189) On the fifteenth day,
at full moon, the feast which is called "the feast of booths" is
celebrated for which the supplies of the sacrifices are more numerous. For
during seven days, seventy young bulls, fourteen rams and ninety-eight lambs are
sacrificed--all animals as whole burnt offerings. We are ordered to consider the
eighth day sacred, a day which I must deal with carefully when the entire
account of the feasts is thoroughly examined. On this day as many sacrifices are
offered as on the feast which begins the sacred month. (190) The sacrifices
which are whole burnt offerings and are joint offerings on behalf of the nation
or--to speak more accurately--on behalf of the entire race of humanity have been
addressed to the best of my ability. However, a he-goat accompanies the whole
burnt offerings on each day of the feast. He is called "concerning
sins" and is sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins. His meat is
Distributed{25}{although S. Daniel included a negative in her edition (PAPM
24)--[ouk] aponemetai ("is not distributed")--in order to harmonize
this statement with 1.232 and 1.244, this translation has followed the more
difficult reading.} to the priests for food. (191) What is the reason for this?
Is it because a feast is a time of good cheer, and undeceiving and true good
cheer is good sense firmly established in the soul, and this unwavering good
sense is impossible to receive without a cure from sins and cutting off of the
passions? For it would be out of place if each of the animals of the whole burnt
offerings is sacrificed only when it is found undamaged and unhurt, but the mind
of the sacrificer has not been purified in every way and cleansed by making use
of washings and lustrations which the right reason of nature pours into
God-loving souls through healthy and uncorrupt ears. (192) In addition the
following ought to be said. These festal and holiday rests have in the past
often opened up countless avenues to sins. For unmixed beverage and luxurious
diets with excessive drinking arouse the insatiable desires of the stomach and
also kindle the desires of the parts beneath the stomach. As these desires both
flow and stream out in every way, they produce a surge of unspeakable evils
using the fearless stimulant of the feast as a refuge to avoid suffering
anything. (193) Knowing these things, he did not allow them to celebrate a feast
in the same way as other peoples, but at the very time of good cheer he first
commanded that they purify themselves by bridling the impulses of pleasure. Then
he summoned them into the temple for participation in hymns and prayers and
sacrifices so that both from the place and from the things seen and said through
the most powerful of senses, sight and hearing, they might come to love
self-control and piety. Last of all, he reminded them not to sin through the
sacrifice for sin. For the one who is asking for anmesty for the sins he has
committed is not so dominated by evil that at the very time he is asking for
release from old wrongs he should begin other new ones.

XXXVI.
(194) After the lawgiver has given these commands with reference to these
subjects, he begins to distinguish between the different kinds of sacrifices,
and he divides the victims into three classes. The most important of which he
makes a whole burnt offering; the next an offering for preservation; the last, a
sin-offering. And then he adapts suitable ceremonies and rites to each, aiming,
in no inadequate manner, at what is at the same time decorous and holy. (195)
And the distinction which he makes is one of great beauty and propriety, having
a close connection and a sort of natural kindred with the things themselves; for
if any one were to wish to examine minutely the causes for which it seemed good
to the first men to betake themselves at the same time to sacrifices to show
their gratitude, and also to supplications, he will find two most especial
reasons for this conduct. Firstly, that it conduces to the honor of God, which
ought to be aimed at not for the sake of any other reason, but for itself alone,
as being both honorable and necessary; and, secondly, for the benefits which
have been poured upon the sacrificers themselves, as has been said before. And
the benefit they derive is also twofold, being both an admission to a share of
good things and a deliverance from evils. (196) Therefore the law has assigned
the whole burnt offering as a sacrifice adequate to that honor which is suited
to God, and which belongs to God alone, enjoining that what is offered to the
allperfect and absolute God must be itself entire and perfect, having no taint
of mortal selfishness in it. But that sacrifice which is offered for the sake of
men, since its appearance admits of distinction, the law has distinguished also,
appointing it to be a sacrifice for the participation in blessings which mankind
has enjoined, and calling it a thank-offering for their preservation. And for
the deliverance from evils it has allotted the sacrifice called a sin-offering,
so that these are very appropriately their sacrifices for these causes; (197)
the whole burntoffering being sacrificed for God himself alone, who must be
honored for his own sake, and not for that of any other being or thing; and the
others for our sake; the thank-offering for our preservation, for the safety and
amelioration of human affairs; and the sin-offering for the cure of those
offences which the soul has committed.

XXXVII.
(198) And we must now enumerate the laws which have been enacted respecting each
sacrifice, making our commencement with that which is the most excellent. Now,
the most excellent sacrifice is the whole burnt-offering. The law says, "In
the first place the victim shall be a male, carefully selected for its
excellence from all the animals which are fit for sacrifice, a calf, or a lamb,
or a kid. And then let him who brings it wash his hands, and lay his hands on
the head of the victim. (199) And after this let some one of the priests take
the victim and sacrifice it, and let another hold a bowl under it, and, having
caught some of the blood, let him go all around the altar and sprinkle it with
the blood, and let him flay the victim and divide it into large pieces, having
washed its entrails and its feet. And then let the whole victim be given to the
fire of the altar of God, {26}{Leviticus 1:3.} having become many things instead
of one, and one instead of many." (200) These things, then, are
comprehended in express words of command. But there is another meaning
figuratively concealed under the enigmatical expressions. And the words employed
are visible symbols of what is invisible and uncertain. Now the victim which is
to be sacrificed as a whole burnt offering must be a male, because a male is
both more akin to domination than a female and more nearly related to the
efficient cause; for the female is imperfect, subject, seen more as the passive
than as the active partner. (201) And since the elements of which our soul
consists are two in number, the rational and the irrational part, the rational
part belongs to the male sex, being the inheritance of intellect and reason; but
the irrational part belongs to the sex of woman, which is the lot also of the
outward senses. And the mind is in every respect superior to the outward sense,
as the man is to the woman; who, when he is without blemish and purified with
the proper purifications, namely, the perfect virtues, is himself the most holy
sacrifice, being wholly and in all respects pleasing to God. (202) Again, the
hands which are laid upon the head of the victim are a most manifest symbol of
irreproachable actions, and of a life which does nothing which is open to
accusation, but which in all respects is passed in a manner consistent with the
laws and ordinances of nature; (203) for the law, in the first place, desires
that the mind of the man who is offering the sacrifice shall be made holy by
being exercised in good and advantageous doctrines; and, in the second place,
that his life shall consist of most virtuous actions, so that, in conjunction
with the imposition of hands, the man may speak freely out of his cleanly
conscience, and may say, (204) "These hands have never received any gift as
a bribe to commit an unjust action, nor any division of what has been obtained
by rapine or by covetousness, nor have they shed innocent blood. nor have they
wrought mutilation, nor works of insolence, nor acts of violence, nor have they
inflicted any wounds; nor, in fact, have they performed any action whatever
which is liable to accusation or to reproach, but have been ministers in
everything which is honorable and advantageous, and which is honored by wisdom,
or by the laws, or by honorable and virtuous men."

XXXVIII.
(205) And the blood is poured out in a circle all round the altar, because a
circle is the most complete of all figures, and also in order that no part
whatever may be left empty and unoccupied by the libation of life; for, to speak
properly, the blood is the libation of the life. Therefore the law here
symbolically teaches us that the mind, which is always performing its dances in
a circle, is by every description of words, and intentions, and actions which it
adopts, always showing its desire to please God. (206) And it is commanded that
the belly and the feet shall be washed, which command is a figurative and very
expressive one; for, by the belly it is figuratively meant to be signified that
it is desirable that the appetites shall be purified, which are full of stains,
and intoxication, and drunkenness, being thus a most pernicious evil, existing,
and concocted, and exercised to the great injury of the life of mankind. (207)
And by the command that the feet of the victim should be washed, it is
figuratively shown that we must no longer walk upon the earth, but soar aloft
and traverse the air. For the soul of the man who is devoted to God, being eager
for truth, springs upward and mounts from earth to heaven; and, being borne on
wings, traverses the expanse of the air, being eager to be classed with and to
move in concert with the sun, and moon, and all the rest of the most sacred and
most harmonious company of the stars, under the immediate command and government
of God, who has a kingly authority without any rival, and of which he can never
be deprived, in accordance with which he justly governs the universe. (208) And
the division of the animal into limbs shows plainly that all things are but one,
or that they are derived from one, and dissolved into one; which some persons
have called satiety and also want, while others have called it combustion and
arrangement: combustion, in accordance with the supreme power of God, who rules
all other things in the world; and arrangement, according to the equality of the
four elements which they all mutually allow to one another. (209) And when I
have been investigating these matters, this has appeared to me to be a probable
conjecture; the soul which honors the living God, ought for that very reason to
honor him not inconsiderately nor ignorantly, but with knowledge and reason; and
the reasoning which we indulge in respecting God admits of division and
partition, according to each of the divine faculties and excellencies; for God
is both all good, and is also the maker and creator of the universe; and he also
created it having a foreknowledge of what would take place, and being its
preserver and most blessed benefactor, full of every kind of happiness; all
which circumstances have in themselves a most dignified and praiseworthy
character, both separately and when looked at in conjunction with their kindred
qualities; (210) and we must speak in the same way of other matters. When you
wish to give thanks to God with your mind, and to assert your gratitude for the
creation of the world, give him thanks for the creation of it as a whole, and of
all its separate parts in their integrity, as if for the limbs of a most perfect
animal; and by the parts I mean, for instance, the heaven, and the sun, and the
moon, and the fixed stars; and secondly the earth, and the animals, and plants
which spring from it; and next the seas and rivers, whether naturally springing
from the ground or swollen by rain as winter torrents, and all the things in
them: and lastly, the air and all the changes that take place in it; for winter,
and summer, and spring, and autumn, being the seasons of the year, and being all
of great service to mankind, are what we may call affections of the air for the
preservation of all these things that are beneath the moon. (211) And if ever
you give thanks for men and their fortunes, do not do so only for the race taken
generally, but you shall give thanks also for the species and most important
parts of the race, such as men and women, Greeks and barbarians, men on the
continent, and those who have their habitation in the islands; and if you are
giving thanks for one individual, do not divide your thankfulness in expression
into gratitude for minute trifles and inconsiderable matters, but take in your
view the most comprehensive circumstances, first of all, his body and his soul,
of which he consists, and then his speech, and his mind, and his outward senses;
for such gratitude cannot of itself be unworthy of being listened to by God,
when uttered, for each of these particulars.

XXXIX.
(212) These things are enough for us to say respecting the sacrifice of the
whole burntoffering. We must now proceed in due order to consider that offering
which is called the sacrifice for preservation; for with respect to this one it
is a matter of consequence whether the victim be male or female; and when it is
slain, these three parts are especially selected for the altar, the fat, and the
lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys; and all the other parts are left to make
a feast for the sacrificer; (213) and we must consider with great accuracy the
reason why these portions of the entrails are in this case looked upon as
sacred, and not pass this point by carelessly. Often when I have been
considering this matter in my own mind, and investigating all these
commandments, I have doubted why the law selected the lobe of the liver, and the
kidneys, and the fat, as the first fruits of the animals thus sacrificed; and
did not choose the heart or the brain, though the dominant part of the man
resides in one of these parts; (214) and I think also that many other persons
who read the sacred scriptures with their mind, rather than merely with their
eyes, will ask the same question. If therefore they, when they have considered
the matter, can find any more probable reason, they will be benefiting both
themselves and us; but if they cannot, let them consider the cause which has
been discovered by us, and see whether it will stand the test; and this is it.
The dominant power alone of all those that exist in us is able to restrain our
natural folly, and injustice, and cowardice, and our other vices, and does
restrain them; and the abode of this dominant power is one or other of the
aforesaid portions of us, that is, it is either the brain or the heart; (215)
therefore the sacred commandment has thought fit that one should not bring to
the altar of God, by means of which a remission and complete pardon of all sins
and transgressions is procured, that vessel from which the mind having at one
time been abiding in it, has gone forth on the trackless road of injustice and
impiety, having turned out of the way which leads to virtue and excellence; for
it would be folly to suppose that sacrifices were not to procure a forgetfulness
of offences, but were to act as a reminder of them. This it is which appears to
me to be the reason why neither of those two parts, which are of supreme
importance, namely, the brain or the heart, is brought to the altar; (216) and
the parts which are commanded to be brought have a very suitable reason why they
should be; the fat is brought because it is the richest part, and that which
guards the entrails; for it envelops them and makes them to flourish, and
benefits them by the softness of its touch. And the kidneys are commanded to be
selected on account of the adjacent parts and the organs of generation, which
they, as they dwell near them, do, like good neighbors, assist and co-operate
with, in order that the seed of nature may prosper without anything in its
vicinity being any obstacle to it; for they are channels resembling blood, by
which that part of the purification of the superfluities of the body which is
moist is separated from the body; and the testicles are near by which the seed
is irrigated. And the lobe of the liver is the first fruit of the most important
of the entrails, by means of which the food is digested, and being conveyed into
the stomach is diffused through all the veins, and so conduces to the durability
of the whole body; (217) for the stomach, lying close to the gullet which
swallows the food, receives it as soon after it has first been chewed by the
teeth and been made smooth, and so digests it; and the body again receives it
from the stomach and performs the second part of the service required, to which
indeed it has been destined by nature, giving forth a juice to aid in liquefying
the food; and there are tow pipes like channels in the belly, which pour forth
chyle into the liver, through the two channels which are originally placed in
it. (218) And the liver has a twofold power, a secretive one, and also a power
of making blood. Now the secretive power secretes everything which is hard and
difficult to be digested, and removes it into the adjacent vessels of gall; and
the other power turns all that portion of the food which is pure and properly
strained, by the means of its own innate flame, into life-like vivifying blood;
and presses it into the heart, from which, as has been already said, it is
conveyed through the veins and by these channels is diffused through the whole
body to which it becomes the nourishment. (219) We must also add to what has
been here said, that the nature of the liver being a lofty character and very
smooth, by reason of its smoothness is looked upon as a very transparent mirror,
so that when the mind, retreating from the cares of the day (while the body is
lying relaxed in sleep, and while no one of the outward senses is any hindrance
or impediment), begins to roll itself about, and to consider the objects of its
thought by itself without any interruption, looking into the liver as into a
mirror, it then sees, very clearly and without any alloy, every one of the
proper objects of the intellect, and looking round upon all vain idols, and
seeing that no disgrace can accrue to it, but taking care to avoid that and to
choose the contrary, and being contented and pleased with all that it sees, it
by dreams obtains a prophetic sight of the future.

XL.
(220) And there are two days only during which God permits the nation to make
use of the sacrifice for preservation, enjoining them to carve nothing of it
till the third day, on many accounts, first of all, because all the things which
are ever placed on the sacred table, ought to be made use of in due season,
while the users take care that they shall suffer no deterioration from the lapse
of time; but the nature of meat that has been kept is very apt to become putrid,
even though it may have been seasoned in the cooking; (221) secondly, because it
is fitting that the sacrifices should not be stored up for food, but should be
openly exposed, so as to afford a meal to all who are in need of it, for the
sacrifice when once placed on the altar, is no longer the property of the person
who has offered it, but belongs to that Being to whom the victim is sacrificed,
who, being a beneficent and bounteous God, makes the whole company of those who
offer the sacrifice, partakers at the altar and messmates, only admonishing them
not to look upon it as their own feast, for they are but stewards of the feast,
and not the entertainers; and the entertainer is the man to whom all the
preparation belongs, which it is not lawful to conceal while preferring
parsimony and illiberal meanness to humanity which is a noble virtue. (222)
Lastly, this command was given because it so happens that the sacrifice for
preservation is offered up for two things, the soul and the body, to each of
which the lawgiver has assigned one day for feasting on the meats, for it was
becoming that a number of days should be allotted for this purpose equal to the
number of those parts in us which were designed to be sacred; so that in the
first day we should, together with our eating of the food, receive a
recollection of the salvation of our souls; and on the second day be reminded of
the sound health of our bodies. (223) And since there is no third object which
is naturally appointed as one that should receive preservation, he has, with all
possible strictness, forbidden the use of those meats being reserved to the
third day, commanding that if it should so happen that, out of ignorance or
forgetfulness, any portion was left, it should be consumed with fire; and he
declares that the man who has merely tasted of it is blamable, saying to him,
"Though thinking that you were sacrificing, O foolish man, you have not
sacrificed; I have not accepted the unholy, unconsecrated, profane, unclean
meats which you have roasted, O gluttonous man; never, even in a dream, having a
proper idea of sacrifice."

XLI.
(224) To this species of sacrifice for preservation that other sacrifice also
belongs, which is called the sacrifice of praise, and which rests on the
following Principle.{27}{Leviticus 19:1.} The man who has never fallen into any
unexpected disaster whatever, neither as to his body nor as to his external
circumstances, but who has passed a tranquil and peaceful life, living in
happiness and prosperity, being free from all calamity and all mishap, steering
through the long voyage of life in calmness and serenity of circumstances, good
fortune always blowing upon the stern of his vessel, is, of necessity, bound to
requite God, who has been the pilot of his voyage, who has bestowed upon him
untroubled salvation and unalloyed benefits, and, in short, all sorts of
blessings unmingled with any evil, with hymns, and songs, an prayers, and also
with sacrifices, and all other imaginable tokens of gratitude in a holy manner;
all which things taken together have received the one comprehensive name of
praise. (225) This sacrifice the lawgiver has not commanded to be spread like
the one before mentioned over two days, {28}{Leviticus 7:5.} but he has confined
it to one only, in order that these men, who meet with ready benefits freely
poured upon them, may offer up their requital freely and without any delay.

XLII.
(226) This is sufficient to say on these subjects. We must now proceed, in due
order, to consider the third sacrifice, which is called the sinoffering. This is
varied in many ways, both in respect to the persons and to the description of
victims offered; in respect of persons, that is, of the high priest, and of the
whole nation, and of the ruler in his turn, and of the private individual; in
respect of the victim offered, whether it be a calf, or a kid, or a she-goat, or
a lamb. (227) Also there is a distinction made, which is very necessary, as to
whether they are voluntary or involuntary, with reference to those who, after
they have erred, change for the better, confessing that they have sinned, and
reproaching themselves for the offences that they have committed, and turning,
for the future, to an irreproachable way of life. (228) The sins therefore of
the high priest, and of the whole nation, are atoned for by animals of equal
value, for the priest is commanded to offer up a calf for each. The sins of the
ruler are atoned for by an inferior animal, but still a male, for a kid is the
appointed victim. The sins of the private individual by a victim of an inferior
species, for it is a female, not a male, a she-goat, that is sacrificed; (229)
for it was fitting that a ruler should be ranked above a private individual,
even in his performance of sacred ceremonies also: but the nation is superior to
the ruler, since the whole must, at all times, be superior to the part. But the
high priest is accounted worthy of the same honor as the whole nation, in
respect of purification and of entreating a forgiveness of his sins from the
merciful power of God. And he receives an equality of honor, not so much as it
appears for his own sake, as because he is a servant of the nation, offering up
a common thank-offering for them all in his most sacred prayers and most holy
sacrifices. (230) And the commandment given respecting these matters is one of
great dignity and admirable solemnity. "If," says the law, "the
high priest have sinned unintentionally," and then it adds, "so that
the people has sinned too," all but affirming in express words that the
true high priest, not the one incorrectly called so, has no participation in
sin; and if ever he stumble, this will happen to him, not for his own sake, but
for the common errors of the nation, and this error is not incurable, but is one
which easily admits of a remedy. (231) When, therefore, the calf has been
sacrificed, the lawgiver commands the sacrificer to sprinkle some of the blood
with his finger seven times in front of the veil which is before the holy of
holies, within the former veil, in which place the sacred vessels are placed;
and after that to smear and anoint the four horns of the altar, for it is
square; and to pour out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar, which is
in the open air. (232) And to this altar they are commanded to bring three
things, the fat, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys, in accordance
with the commandment given with reference to the sacrifice for preservation; but
the skin and the flesh, and all the rest of the body of the calf, from the head
to the feet, with the entrails, they are commanded to carry out and to turn in
an open place, to which the sacred ashes from the altar have been conveyed. The
lawgiver also gives the same command with respect to the whole nation when it
has sinned. (233) But if any ruler has sinned he makes his purification with a
kid, {29}{Leviticus 4:22.} as I have said before; and if a private individual
has sinned, he must offer a she-goat or a lamb; and for the ruler he appoints a
male victim, but to the private individual a female, making all his other
injunctions the same in both cases, to anoint the horns of the altar in the open
air with blood, to bring the fat and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys,
and to give the rest of the victim to the priests to eat.

XLIII.
(234) But since, of offences some are committed against men, and some against
holy and sacred things; he has hitherto been speaking with reference to those
which are unintentionally committed against men; but for the purification of
such as have been committed against sacred things he commands a ram to be
offered up, after the offender has first paid the value of the thing to which
the offence related, adding one fifth to the exact value. (235) And after having
put forth these and similar enactments with reference to sins committed
unintentionally, he proceeds to lay down rules respecting intentional offences.
"If any one," says the law, "shall speak falsely concerning a
partnership, or about a deposit, or about a theft, or about the finding of
something which another has lost, and being suspected and having had an oath
proposed to him, shall swear, and when he appears to have escaped all conviction
at the hands of this accusers, shall himself become his own accuser, being
convicted by his own conscience residing within, and shall reproach himself for
the things which he has denied, and as to which he has sworn falsely, and shall
come and openly confess the sin which he has committed, and implore pardon;
(236) then pardon shall be given to such a man, who shows the truth of his
repentance, not by promises but by works, by restoring the deposit which he has
received, and by giving up the things which he has stolen or found, or of which
in short he has in any way deprived his neighbor, paying also in addition one
fifth of the value, as an atonement for the evil which he had
Done."{30}{Leviticus 5:20.} (237) And then, after he has appeased the man
who had been injured, the law proceeds to say, "After this let him go also
into the temple, to implore remission of the sins which he has committed, taking
with him an irreproachable mediator, namely, that conviction of the soul which
has delivered him from his incurable calamity, curing him of the disease which
would cause death, and wholly changing and bringing him to good health."
And it orders that he should sacrifice a ram, and this victim is expressly
mentioned, as it is in the case of the man who has offended in respect of the
holy things; (238) for the law speaks of an unintentional offence in the matter
of holy things as of equal importance with an intentional sin in respect of men;
if we may not indeed say that this also is holy, since an oath is added to it,
which, as having been taken for an unjust cause, it has corrected by an
alteration for the better. (239) And we must take notice that the parts of the
victim slain as a sin-offering which are placed upon the altar, are the same as
those which are taken from the sacrifice for preservation, namely the lobe of
the liver, and the fat, and the kidneys; for in a manner we may speak also of
the man who repents as being preserved, since he is cured of a disease of the
soul, which is worse than the diseases of the body; (240) but the other parts of
the animal are assigned to be eaten in a different manner; and the difference
consists in three things; in the place, and time, and in those who receive
It.{31}{Leviticus 6:9.} Now the place is the temple; the time is one day instead
of two; and the persons who partake of it are the priests, and the male servants
of the priests, but not the men who offer the sacrifice. (241) Therefore the law
does not permit the sacrifice to be brought out of the temple, with the intent
that, if the man who repents has committed any previous offence also, he may not
now be overwhelmed by envious and malicious men, with foolish dispositions and
unbridled tongues, always lying in wait for reproach and false accusation; but
it must be eaten in the sacred precincts, within which the purification has
taken place.

XLIV.
(242) And the law orders the priests to feast on what is offered in the
sacrifice for many reasons; first of all, that by this command it may do honor
to him who has offered the sacrifice, for the dignity of those who eat of the
feast is an honor to those who furnish it; secondly, that they may believe the
more firmly that those men who feel repentance for their sins do really have God
propitious to them, for he would never have invited his servants and ministers
to a participation in such a banquet, if his forgiveness of those who provided
it had not been complete; and thirdly, because it is not lawful for any one of
the priests to bear a part in the sacred ceremonies who is not perfect, for they
are rejected for the slightest blemish. (243) And God comforts those who have
ceased to travel by the road of wickedness, as if they now, by means of the race
of the priesthood, had received a pure purpose of life for the future, and had
been sent forth so as to obtain an equal share of honor with the priests. And it
is for this reason that the victim sacrificed as a sin-offering is consumed in
one day, because men ought to delay to sin, being always slow and reluctant to
approach it, but to exert all possible haste and promptness in doing well. (244)
But the sacrifices offered up for the sins of the high priest, or for those of
the whole nation, are not prepared to be eaten at all, but are burnt to ashes,
and the ashes are sacred as has been said; for there is no one who is superior
to the high priest or to the whole nation, or who can as such be an intercessor
for them, as to the sins which they have committed. (245) Very naturally,
therefore, is the meat of this sacrifice ordered to be consumed by fire, in
imitation of the whole burnt offerings, and this to the honor of those who offer
it; not because the sacred judgments of God are given with reference to the rank
of those who come before his tribunal, but because the offences committed by men
of pre-eminent virtue and real holiness are accounted of a character nearly akin
to the good actions of others; (246) for as a deep and fertile soil, even if it
at times yields a bad crop, still bears more and better fruit than one which is
naturally unproductive, so in the same manner it happens that the barrenness of
virtuous and God-fearing men is more full of excellence than the best actions
which ordinary people perform by chance; for these men cannot intentionally
endure to do anything blamable.

XLV.
(247) Having given these commandments about every description of sacrifice in
its turn, namely, about the burnt offering, and the sacrifice for preservation,
and the sin-offering, he adds another kind of offering common to all the three,
in order to show that they are friendly and connected with one another; and this
combination of them all is called the great vow; (248) and why it received this
appellation we must now proceed to say. When any persons offer first fruits from
any portion of their possessions, wheat, or barley, or oil, or wine, or the best
of their fruits, or the firstborn males of their flocks and herds, they do so
actually dedicating those first fruits which proceed from what is clean, but
paying a price as the value of what is unclean; and when they have no longer any
materials left in which they can display their piety, they then consecrate and
offer up themselves, displaying an unspeakable holiness, and a most
superabundant excess of a God-loving disposition, on which account such a
dedication is fitly called the great vow; for every man is his own greatest and
most valuable possession, and this even he now gives up and abandons. (249) And
when a man has vowed this vow the law gives him the following command; first of
all, to touch no unmixed wine, nor any wine that is made of the grape, nor to
drink any other strong drink whatever, to the destruction of his reason,
considering that during this period his reason also is dedicated to God; for all
which could tend to drunkenness is forbidden to those of the priests who are
employed in the sacred ministrations, they being commanded to quench their
thirst with water; (250) in the second place they are commanded not to show
their heads, giving thus a visible sign to all who see them that they are not
debasing the pure coinage of their vow; thirdly, they are commanded to keep
their body pure and undefiled, so as not even to approach their parents if they
are dead, nor their brothers; piety overcoming the natural good will and
affection towards their relations and dearest friends, and it is both honorable
and expedient that piety should at all times prevail.

XLVI.
(251) But when the appointed time for their being Released{32}{Numbers 6:14.}
from this vow has arrived, the law then commands the man who has dedicated
himself to bring three animals to procure his release from his vow, a male lamb,
and a female lamb, and a ram; the one for a burnt offering, the second for a
sin-offering, and the ram as a sacrifice for preservation; (252) for in some
sense the man who has made such a vow resembles all these things. He resembles
the sacrifice of the entire burnt offering, because he is dedicating to his
preserver not only a portion of the first fruits of other things, but also of
his own self. And he resembles the sin-offering, inasmuch as he is a man; for
there is no one born, however perfect he may be, who can wholly avoid the
commission of sin. He resembles also the offering for preservation, inasmuch as
he has recorded that God the Savior is the cause of his preservation, and does
not ascribe it to any physician or to any power of his; for those who have been
born themselves, and who are liable to infirmity, are not competent to bestow
health even on themselves. Medicine does not benefit all persons, nor does it
always benefit the same persons; but there are times even when it does them
great injury, since its power depends on different things, both on the thing
itself and also on those persons who use it. (253) And a great impression is
made on me by the fact that of three animals offered up in these different
sacrifices, there is no one of a different species from the others, but they are
every one of the same kind, a ram, and a male lamb, and a female lamb; for God
wishes, as I said a little while ago, by this commandment to point out that the
three kinds of sacrifice are nearly connected with and akin to one another;
because, both the man who repents is saved, and the man who is saved from the
diseases of the soul repents, and because both of them hasten with eagerness to
attain to an entire and perfect disposition, of which the sacrifice of the whole
burnt-offering is a symbol. (254) But since the man has begun to offer himself
as his first fruits, and since it is not lawful for the sacred altar to be
polluted with human blood, but yet it was by all means necessary that a portion
should be consecrated, he has taken care to take a portion, which, being taken,
should cause neither pain nor defilement; for he has cut Off{33}{Numbers 6:18.}
the hair of the head, the superfluities of the natural body, as if they were the
superfluous branches of a tree, and he has committed them to the fire on which
the meat of the sacrifice offered for preservation will be suitably prepared,
{34}{Leviticus 6:13.} in order that some portion of the man who has made the
vow, which it is not lawful to place upon the altar, may still at all events be
combined with the sacrifice, burning the fuel of the sacred flame.

XLVII.
(255) These sacred fires are common to all the rest of the people. But it was
fitting that the priests also should offer up something on the altar as first
fruits, not thinking that the services and sacred ministrations to which they
have been appointed have secured them an exemption from such duties. And the
first fruits suitable for the priests to offer do not come from anything
containing blood, but from the purest portion of human food; (256) for the fine
wheaten flour is their continual offering; a tenth part of a sacred measure
every day; one half of which is offered up in the morning, and one half in the
evening, having been soaked in oil, so that no portion of it can be left for
food; for the command of God is, that all the sacrifices of the priests shall be
wholly burnt, and that no portion of them shall be allotted for food. Having
now, then, to the best of our ability, discussed the matters relating to the
sacrifices, we will proceed in due order to speak concerning those who offer
Them.{35}

XLVIII.
(257) The law chooses that a person who brings a sacrifice shall be pure, both
in body and soul; --pure in soul from all passions, and diseases, and vices,
which can be displayed either in word or deed; and pure in body from all such
things as a body is usually defiled by. (258) And it has appointed a burning
purification for both these things; for the soul, by means of the animals which
are duly fit for sacrifices; and for the body, by ablutions and sprinklings;
concerning which we will speak presently; for it is fit to assign the
pre-eminence in honor in every point to the superior and dominant part of the
qualities existing in us, namely, to the soul. (259) What, then, is the mode of
purifying the soul? "Look," says the law, "take care that the
victim which thou bringest to the altar is perfect, wholly without participation
in any kind of blemish, selected from many on account of its excellence, by the
uncorrupted judgments of the priests, and by their most acute sight, and by
their continual practice derived from being exercised in the examination of
faultless victims. For if you do not see this with your eyes more than with your
reason, you will not wash off all the imperfections and stains which you have
imprinted on your whole life, partly in consequence of unexpected events, and
partly by deliberate purpose; (260) for you will find that this exceeding
accuracy of investigation into the animals, figuratively signifies the
amelioration of your own disposition and conduct; for the law was not
established for the sake of irrational animals, but for that of those who have
intellect and reason." So that the real object taken care of is not the
condition of the victims sacrificed in order that they may have no blemish, but
that of the sacrificers that they may not be defiled by any unlawful passion.
(261) The body then, as I have already said, he purifies with ablutions and
bespringklings, and does not allow a person after he has once washed and
sprinkled himself, at once to enter within the sacred precincts, but bids him
wait outside for seven days, and to be besprinkled twice, on the third day and
on the seventh day; and after this it commands him to wash himself once more,
and then it admits him to enter the sacred precincts and to share in the sacred
ministrations.

XLIX.
(262) We must consider what great prudence and philosophical wisdom is displayed
in this law; for nearly all other persons are besprinkled with pure water,
generally in the sea, some in rivers, and others again in vessels of water which
they draw from fountains. But Moses, having previously prepared ashes which had
been left from the sacred fire (and in what manner shall be explained
hereafter), appointed that it should be right to take some of them and to put
them in a vessel, and then to pour water upon them, and then, dipping some
branches of hyssop in the mixture of ashes and water, to sprinkle it over those
who were to be purified. (263) And the cause of this proceeding may very
probably be said to be this:--The lawgiver's intention is that those who
approach the service of the living God should first of all know themselves and
their own essence. For how can the man who does not know himself ever comprehend
the supreme and all-excelling power of God? (264) Therefore, our bodily essence
is earth and water, of which he reminds us by this purification, conceiving that
this result--namely, to know one's self, and to know also of what one is
composed, of what utterly valueless substances mere ashes and water are--is of
itself the most beneficial purification. (265) For when a man is aware of this
he will at once reject all vain and treacherous conceit, and, discarding
haughtiness and pride, he will seek to become pleasing to God, and to conciliate
the merciful power of that Being who hates arrogance. For it is said somewhere
with great beauty, "He that exhibits over proud words or actions offends
not men alone but God also, the maker of equality and of every thing else that
is most excellent." (266) Therefore, to us who are amazed and excited by
this sprinkling the very elements themselves, earth and water, may almost be
said to utter distinct words, and to say plainly, we are the essence of your
bodies; nature having mixed us together, divine art has fashioned us into the
figure of a man. Being made of us when you were born, you will again be
dissolved into us when you come to die; for it is not the nature of any thing to
be destroyed so as to become non-existent; but the end brings it back to those
elements from which its beginnings come.

L.
(267) But now it is necessary to fulfil our promise and to explain the peculiar
propriety involved in this use of ashes. For they are not merely the ashes of
wood which has been consumed by fire, but also of an animal particularly suited
for this kind of purification. (268) For the law Orders{36}{Numbers 19:1.} that
a red heifer, which has never been brought under the yoke, shall be sacrificed
outside of the city, and that the high priest, taking some of the blood, shall
seven times sprinkle with it all the things in front of the temple, and then
shall burn the whole animal, with its hide and flesh, and with the belly full of
all the entrails. And when the flame begins to pour down, then it commands that
these three things shall be thrown into the middle of it, a stick of cedar, a
stick of hyssop, and a bunch of saffron; and then, when the fire is wholly
extinguished, it commands that some man who is clean shall collect the ashes,
and shall again place them outside of the city in some open place. (269) And
what figurative meanings he conceals under these orders as symbols, we have
accurately explained in another treatise, in which we have discussed the
allegories. It is necessary, therefore, for those who are about to go into the
temple to partake of the sacrifice, to be cleansed as to their bodies and as to
their souls before their bodies. For the soul is the mistress and the queen, and
is superior in every thing, as having received a more divine nature. And the
things which cleanse the mind are wisdom and the doctrines of wisdom, which lead
to the contemplation of the world and the things in it; and the sacred chorus of
the rest of the virtues, and honorable and very praiseworthy actions in
accordance with the virtues. (270) Let the man, therefore, who is adorned with
these qualities go forth in cheerful confidence to the temple which most nearly
belongs to him, the most excellent of all abodes to offer himself as a
sacrifice. But let him in whom covetousness and a desire of unjust things dwell
and display themselves, cover his head and be silent, checking his shameless
folly and his excessive impudence, in those matters in which caution is
profitable; for the temple of the truly living God may not be approached by
unholy sacrifices. (271) I should say to such a man: My good man, God is not
pleased even though a man bring hecatombs to his altar; for he possesses all
things as his own, and stands in need of nothing. But he delights in minds which
love God, and in men whopractice
holiness, from whom he gladly receives cakes and barley, and the very cheapest
things, as if they were the most valuable in preference to such as are most
costly. (272) And even if they bring nothing else, still when they bring
themselves, the most perfect completeness of virtue and excellence, they are
offering the most excellent of all sacrifices, honoring God, their Benefactor
and Savior, with hymns and thanksgivings; the former uttered by the organs of
the voice, and the latter without the agency of the tongue or mouth, the
worshippers making their exclamations and invocations with their soul alone, and
only appreciable by the intellect, and there is but one ear, namely, that of the
Deity which hears them. For the hearing of men does not extend so far as to be
sensible of them.

LI.
(273) And that this statement is true, and not mine but that of nature, is
testified to a certain degree by the evident nature of the thing itself, which
affords a manifest proof which none can deny who do not cleave to credulity out
of a contentious disposition. It is testified also by the law which commands two
altars to be prepared, differing both as to the materials of which they are
made, as to the places in which they are erected, and as to the purposes to
which they are applied; (274) for one is made of stones, carefully selected so
to fit one another, and unhewn, and it is erected in the open air, near the
steps of the temple, and it is for the purpose of sacrificing victims which
contain blood in them. And the other is made of gold, and is erected in the
inner part of the temple, within the first veil, and may not be seen by any
other human being except those of the priests who keep themselves pure, and it
is for the purpose of offering incense upon; (275) from which it is plain that
God looks upon even the smallest offering of frankincense by a holy man as more
valuable than ten thousand beasts which may be sacrificed by one who is not
thoroughly virtuous. For in proportion, I imagine, as gold is more valuable than
stones, and as the things within the inner temple are more holy than those
without, in the same proportion is the gratitude displayed by offerings of
incense superior to that displayed by the sacrifice of victims full of blood,
(276) on which account the altar of incense is honored not only in the
costliness of its materials, and in the manner of its erection, and in its
situation, but also in the fact that it ministers every day before any thing
else to the thanksgivings to be paid to God. For the law does not permit the
priest to offer the sacrifice of the whole burnt offering outside before he has
offered incense within at the earliest Dawn.{37}{Exodus 30:8.} (277) And this
command is a symbol of nothing else but of the fact that in the eyes of God it
is not the number of things sacrificed that is accounted valuable, but the
purity of the rational spirit of the sacrificer. Unless, indeed, one can suppose
that a judge who is anxious to pronounce a holy judgment will never receive
gifts from any of those whose conduct comes before his tribunal, or that, if he
does receive such presents, he will be liable to an accusation of corruption;
and that a good man will not receive gifts from a wicked person, not even though
he may be poor and the other rich, and he himself perhaps in actual want of what
he would so receive; and yet that God can be corrupted by bribes, who is most
all-sufficient for himself and who has no need of any thing created; who, being
himself the first and most perfect good thing, the everlasting fountain of
wisdom, and justice, and of every virtue, rejects the gifts of the wicked. (278)
And is not the man who would offer such gifts the most shameless of all men, if
he offers a portion of the things which he has acquired by doing injury, or by
rapine, or by false denial, or by robbery, to God as if he were a partner in his
wickedness? O most miserable of all men! I should say to such a man, "You
must be expecting one of two things. Either that you will be able to pass
undetected, or that you will be discovered. (279) Therefore, if you expect to be
able to pass undetected, you are ignorant of the power of God, by which he at
the same time sees everything and hears everything. And if you think that you
will be discovered, you are most audacious in (when you ought rather to endeavor
to conceal the wicked actions which you have committed) bringing forward to
light specimens of all your iniquitous deeds, and giving yourself airs, and
dividing the fruits of them with God, bringing him unholy first fruits. And have
you not considered this, that the law does not admit of lawlessness, nor does
the light of the sun admit of darkness; but God is the archetypal model of all
laws, and the sun, which can be appreciated only by the intellect, is the
archetypal model of that which is visible to the senses, bringing forth from its
invisible fountains visible light to afford to him who sees." Moreover,
there are other commandments relating to the Altar.{38} (280) This injunction
also is very admirably and properly set down in the sacred tablets of the law,
that the wages of a harlot are not to be received into the temple, and inasmuch
as she has earned them by selling her beauty, having chosen a most infamous life
for the sake of shameful gain; (281) but if the gifts which proceed from a woman
who has lived as a concubine are unholy, how can those be different which
proceed from a soul which is deriled in the same manner, which has voluntarily
abandoned itself to shame and to the lowest infamy, to drunkenness and gluttony,
and covetousness and ambition, and love of pleasure, and to innumerable other
kinds of passions, and diseases, and wickednesses? For what time can be long
enough to efface those defilements, I indeed do not know. (282) Very often in
truth time has put an end to the occupation of a harlot, since, when women have
outlived their beauty, no one any longer approaches them, their prime having
withered away like that of some flowers; and what length of time can ever
transform the harlotry of the soul which from its youth has been trained in
early and habitual incontinence, so as to bring it over to good order? No time
could do this, but God alone, to whom all things are possible, even those which
among us are impossible. (283) Accordingly, the man who is about to offer a
sacrifice ought to examine and see, not whether the victim is without blemish,
but whether his mind is sound, and entire, and perfect. Let him likewise
investigate the causes for which he is about to offer the sacrifice; for it must
be as an expression of thankfulness for kindnesses which have been shown to him,
or else of supplication for the permanence of his present blessings, or for the
acquisition of some future good, or else to avert some evil either present or
expected; for all which objects he should labor to bring his reason into a state
of good health and sanity; (284) for if he is giving thanks for benefits
conferred upon him, he must take care not to behave like an ungrateful man,
becoming wicked, for the benefits are conferred on a virtuous man; or if his
object be to secure the permanence of his present prosperity and happiness, and
to be enabled to look forward to such for the future, he must still show himself
worthy of his good fortune, and behave virtuously; or if he is asking to escape
from evils, let him not commit actions deserving of correction and punishment.

LII.
(285) The law says, "A fire shall be kept burning on the altar which shall
never be extinguished, but shall be kept burning for Ever."{39}{Leviticus
6:9.} I think with great reason and propriety; for, since the graces of God are
everlasting, and unceasing, and uninterrupted, which we now enjoy day and night,
and since the symbol of gratitude is the sacred flame, it is fitting that it
should be kindled, and that it should remain unextinguished for ever. (286) And,
perhaps, the lawgiver designed by this command to connect the old with the new
sacrifices, and to unite the two by the duration and presence of the same fire
by which all such sacrifices are consecrated, in order to demonstrate the fact
that all perfect sacrifices consisted in thanksgiving, although, according to
the diversity of the occasions on which they are offered, more victims are
offered at one time and fewer at another. (287) But some are verbal symbols of
things appreciable only by the intellect, and the mystical meaning which is
concealed beneath them must be investigated by those who are eager for truth in
accordance with the rules of allegory. The altar of God is the grateful soul of
the wise man, being compounded of perfect numbers undivided and indivisible; for
no part of virtue is useless. (288) On this soul the sacred fire is continually
kept burning, preserved with care and unextinguishable. But the light of the
mind is wisdom; as, on the contrary, the darkness of the soul is folly. For what
the light discernible by the outward senses is to the eyes, that is knowledge to
reason with a view to the contemplation of incorporeal things discernible only
by the intellect, the light of which is continually shining and never
extinguished.

LIII.
(289) After this the law says, "On every offering you shall add
Salt."{40}{Leviticus 2:13.} By which injunction, as I have said before, he
figuratively implies a duration for ever; for salt is calculated to preserve
bodies, being placed in the second rank as inferior only to the soul; for as the
soul is the cause of bodies not being destroyed, so likewise is salt, which
keeps them together in the greatest degree, and to some extent makes them
immortal. (290) On which account the law calls the altar thysiasteÁrion, giving
it a peculiar name of especial honor, from its preserving (diateÁreoÁ) the
sacrifices (tas thysias) in a proper manner, and this too though the flesh is
consumed by fire; so as to afford the most evident proof possible that God looks
not upon the victims as forming the real sacrifice, but on the mind and
willingness of him who offers them, that so the durability and firmness of the
altar may be ensured by virtue. (291) Moreover, it also ordains that every
sacrifice shall be offered up without any leaven or honey, not thinking it fit
that either of these things should be brought to the altar. The honey, perhaps,
because the bee which collects it is not a clean animal, inasmuch as it derives
its birth, as the story goes, from the putrefaction and corruption of dead oxen,
{41}{this refers to the same idea so beautifully expressed by Virgil, Georgie
4.548 (as it is translated by Dryden)--"His mother's precepts he performs
with care; / The temple visits and adores with prayer; / Four altars raises;
from his herd he culls, / For slaughter, four the fairest of his bulls; / Four
heifers from his female store he took, / All fair and all unknowing of the yoke,
/ Nine mornings thence with sacrifice and prayers, / The powers atoned, he to
the grove repairs. / Behold a prodigy! for from within / The broken vowels and
the bloated skin, / A buzzing noise of bees his ears alarms: / Straight issue
through the sides assembling swarms, / Dark as a cloud they make a wheeling
flight, / Then on a neighboring tree, descending light: / Like a large cluster
of black grapes they show, / And make a large dependance from the bough."}
just as wasps spring from the bodies of horses. (292) Or else this may be
forbidden as a figurative declaration that all superfluous pleasure is unholy,
making, indeed, the things which are eaten sweet to the taste, but inflicting
bitter pains difficult to be cured at a subsequent period, by which the soul
must of necessity be agitated and thrown into confusion, not being able to
settle on any sure resting place. (293) And leaven is forbidden on account of
the rising which it causes; this prohibition again having a figurative meaning,
intimating that no one who comes to the altar ought at all to allow himself to
be elated, being puffed up by insolence; but that such persons may keep their
eyes fixed on the greatness of God, and so obtain a proper conception of the
weakness of all created beings, even if they be very prosperous; and that so
cherishing correct notions they may correct the arrogant lofiness of their
minds, and discard all treacherous self-conceit. (294) But if the Creator and
maker of the universe, who has no need of anything which he has created, not
looking at the exceeding greatness of his own power and at his own authority,
but at your weakness, gives you a share of his own merciful power, supplying the
deficiencies with which you are overwhelmed, how do you think it fitting that
you should behave towards men who are akin to you by nature, and who are
springing from the same elements with yourself, when you have brought nothing
into the world, not even yourself? (295) For, my fine fellow, you came naked
into the world, and you shall leave it again naked, having received the interval
between your birth and death as a loan from God; during which what ought you to
do rather than take care to live in communion and harmony with your fellow
creatures, studying equality, and humanity, and virtue, repudiating unequal, and
unjust, and irreconcilable unsociable wickedness, which makes that animal which
is by nature the most gentle of all, namely, man, a cruel and untractable
monster?

LIV.
(296) Again, the law commands that candles shall be kept burning from evening
until Morning{42}{Leviticus 24:2.} on the sacred candlesticks within the veil,
on many accounts. One of which is that the holy places may be kept illuminated
without any interruption after the cessation of the light of day, being always
kept free from any participation in darkness, just as the stars themselves are,
for they too, when the sun sets, exhibit their own light, never forsaking the
place which was originally appointed for them in the world. (297) Secondly, in
order that by night, also, a rite akin to and closely resembling the sacrifices
by day may be performed so as to give pleasures to God, and that no time or
occasion fit for offering thanksgiving may ever be left out, which is a duty
most suitable and natural for night; for it is not improper to call the blaze of
the most sacred light in the innermost shrine itself a sacrifice. (298) The
third, which is a reason of the very greatest importance, is this. Since we are
not only well treated while we are awake, but also when we are asleep, inasmuch
as the mighty God gives sleep as a great assistance to the human race, for the
benefit of both their bodies and souls, of their bodies as being by it relieved
of the labors of the day, and of their souls as being lightened by it of all
their cares, and being restored to themselves after all the disorder and
confusion caused by the outward senses, and as being then enabled to retire
within and commune with themselves, the law has very properly thought fit to
make a distinction of the actions of thanksgiving, so that sacrifices may be
made on behalf of those who are awake by means of the victims which are offered,
and on behalf of those who are asleep, and of those who are benefited by sleep,
by the lighting of the sacred candles.

LV.
(299) These, then, and other commandments like them, are those which are
established for the purpose of promoting piety, by express injunctions and
prohibitions. But those which are in accordance with philosophical suggestions
and recommendations must be explained in this manner; for the lawgiver, in
effect, says, "God, O mind of man! demands nothing of you which is either
oppressive, or uncertain, or difficult, but only such things as are very simple
and easy. (300) And these are, to love him as your benefactor; and if you fail
to do so, at all events, to fear him as your Governor and Lord, and to enter
zealously upon all the paths which may please him, and to serve him in no
careless or superficial manner, but with one's whole soul thoroughly filled as
it ought to be with God-loving sentiments, and to cleave to his commandments,
and to honor justice, by all which means the world itself continues constantly
in the same nature without ever changing, and all other things which are
contained in the world have a tendency towards improvement, such as the sun and
the moon, and the whole multitude of the rest of the stars, and the entire
heaven. But the mountains of the earth are elevated to the greatest possible
height, and the champaign country, like other fusible essences, is spread over a
body of wide extent, and the sea also changes so as to become united with sweet
waters, and the rains also become in their turn similar to the sea. Therefore
every one of those things is still fixed within the same boundaries as those
within which it was originally created, when it was first disposed of in regular
order. But you shall be better, living quite irreproachably. (301) And what of
all these things is either grievous or laborious? You are not compelled to pass
over unnavigable seas; or, when tossed about by the billows of the middle of
winter and the force of contrary winds, to wander about the sea in every
direction; or to travel on foot over rough and pathless byeways, always being in
dread of the haunts of robbers, or of the attacks of wild beasts; or to watch
all night to protect your walls in the open air, while the enemy are lying in
ambush for you, and threatening you with the very extremity of danger. Come,
now, let no unpleasant topics be brought up in pleasant circumstances. We must
use words of good omen with reference to such advantageous matters. (302) It is
only necessary for the mind to consent and everything will be ready. Are you not
aware that both that heaven which is invisible to the outward senses, and that
likewise which is appreciable only by the intellect, belongs to God: the heaven
of heavens as we may call it; and again, that the earth and all that is in it,
and the whole world, both that which is visible and that which is invisible and
incorporeal, being a model of the real heaven?

LVI.
(303) But, nevertheless, he selected out of the whole race of mankind those who
were really men for their superior excellence; and he elected them and thought
them worthy of the highest possible honor, calling them to the service of
himself, to that everlasting fountain of all that is good; from which he has
showered forth other virtues, drawing forth, at the same time, for our
enjoyment, combined with the greatest possible advantage, a drink contributing
more than ever nectar, or at all events not less, to make those who drink of it
immortal. (304) But those men are to be pitied, and are altogether miserable,
who have never banquetted on the labors of virtue; and they have remained to the
end the most miserable of all men who have been always ignorant of the taste of
moral excellence, when it was in their power to have feasted on and luxuriated
among justice and equality. But these men are uncircumcised in their hearts, as
the law expresses it, and by reason of the hardness of their hearts they are
stubborn, resisting and breaking their traces in a restive manner; (305) whom
the Lord reproves, saying, "Be ye circumcised as to your
hard-Heartedness;"{43}{Deuteronomy 10:16.} that means, "do ye
eradicate the overbearing character of your dominant part, which the immoderate
impulses of the passing hour have sown and caused to grow within you, and which
the wicked husbandman of the soul, folly, planted. (306) Again, it says,
"Let not your necks be Stiff,"{44}{Deuteronomy 10:18.} that is to say,
let not your mind be unbending and self-willed, and let it not admit into itself
that most blamable ignorance of excessive perverseness. But discarding obstinacy
and moroseness of nature as an enemy, let it change so as to become gentle, and
inclined to obey the laws of nature. (307) Do you not see that the most
important and greatest of all the powers of the living God are his beneficent
and his punishing power? And his beneficent power is called God, since it is by
means of this that he made and arranged the universe. And the other, or
punishing power, is called Lord, on which his sovereignty over the universe
depends. And God is God, not only of men, but also of gods; and he is mighty,
being truly strong and truly Powerful.{45}{Deuteronomy 10:17.}

LVII.
(308) But, nevertheless, though he is so great in excellence and in power, he
feels pity and compassion for all those who are most completely sunk in want and
distress, not considering it beneath his dignity to be the judge in the causes
of proselytes, and orphans, and widows, and disregarding kings and tyrants, and
men in high commands, and honoring the humility of those men above mentioned, I
mean the proselytes, with precedence, on this account. (309) These men, having
forsaken their country and their national customs in which they were bred up,
which, however, were full of the inventions of falsehood and pride, becoming
genuine lovers of truth, have come over to piety; and becoming in all worthiness
suppliants and servants of the true and living God, they very properly receive a
precedence which they have deserved, having found the reward of their fleeing to
God in the assistance which they now receive from him. (310) And in the case of
orphans and widows, since they have been deprived of their natural protectors,
the one class having lost their parents, and the others their husbands, they
have no refuge whatever to which they can flee, no aid which they can hope for
from man, being utterly destitute; on which account they are not deprived of the
greatest hope of all, the hope of relief from God, who, because of his merciful
character, does not refuse to provide and to care for persons so wholly
desolate. (311) "Let then," says the law, "God alone be thy
boast, and thy greater Glory,"{46}{Deuteronomy 10:21.} And do not pride
thyself either on thy wealth, or on thy glory, or on the beauty of thy person,
or on thy strength, or on anything of the same kind as the objects at which
foolish empty-headed persons are apt to be elated; considering that, in the
first place, these things have no connection at all with the nature of good, and
secondly, that they are liable to rapid changes, fading away in a manner before
they have time to flourish permanently. (312) And let us cling to the custom of
addressing our supplications to him, and let us not, after we have subdued our
enemies, imitate their impiety in those matters of conduct in which they fancy
that they are acting piously, burning their sons and their daughters to their
gods, not, indeed, that it is the custom of all the barbarians to burn their
children. (313) For they are not become so perfectly savage in their natures as
to endure in time of peace to treat their nearest and dearest relatives as they
would scarcely treat their irreconcilable enemies in time of war. But that they
do in reality inflame and corrupt the souls of the children of whom they are the
parents from the very moment that they are out of their swaddling clothes; not
imprinting on their minds, while they are still tender, any true opinions
respecting the one only and truly living God. Let us not then be overcome by,
and fall down before, and yield to their good fortune as if they had prevailed
by reason of their piety. (314) For present prosperity is given to many persons
for a snare, being only a bait to be followed by excessive and incurable evils.
And it is very likely that even men who are unworthy may be allowed to be
successful, not for their own sakes, but in order that we who act impiously may
be more vehemently grieved and pained, who having been born in a God-fearing
city, and having been bred up in laws which would imbue men with every virtue,
and having been instructed from our earliest youth in all such pursuits as are
most honorable to men, neglect them all, and cling only to such practices as
deserve to be neglected, considering all good things as subjects for amusement,
and looking upon things fit only for sport as seriously good.

LVIII.
(315) And if, indeed, any one assuming the name and appearance of a prophet,
{47}{Deuteronomy 13:1.} appearing to be inspired and possessed by the Holy
Spirit, were to seek to lead the people to the worship of those who are
accounted gods in the different cities, it would not be fitting for the people
to attend to him being deceived by the name of a prophet. For such an one is an
impostor and not a prophet, since he has been inventing speeches and oracles
full of falsehood, (316) even though a brother, or a son, or a daughter, or a
wife, or a steward, or a firm friend, or any one else who seems to be
well-intentioned towards one should seek to lead one in a similar course;
exhorting one to be cheerful among the multitude, and to approach the same
temples and to adopt the same sacrifices; but such an one should be punished as
a public and common enemy, and we should think but little of any relationship,
and one should relate his recommendations to all the lovers of piety, who with
all speed and without any delay would hasten to inflict punishment on the
impious man, judging it a virtuous action to be zealous for his execution. (317)
For we should acknowledge only one relationship, and one bond of friendship,
namely, a mutual zeal for the service of God, and a desire to say and do
everything that is consistent with piety. And these bonds which are called
relationships of blood, being derived from one's ancestors, and those
connections which are derived from intermarriages and from other similar causes,
must all be renounced, if they do not all hasten to the same end, namely, the
honor of God which is the one indissoluble bond of all united good will. For
such men will lay claim to a more venerable and sacred kind of relationship;
(318) and the law confirms my assertion, where it says that those who do what is
pleasing to nature and virtuous are the sons of God, for it says, "Ye are
the sons of the Lord your God,"{48}{Deuteronomy 14:1.} inasmuch as you will
be thought worthy of his providence and care in your behalf as though he were
your father. And that care is as much superior to that which is shown by a man's
own parents, as I imagine the being who takes it is superior to them.

LIX.
(319) In addition to this the lawgiver also entirely removes out of his sacred
code of laws all ordinances respecting initiations, and mysteries, and all such
trickery and buffoonery; not choosing that men who are brought up in such a
constitution as that which he was giving should be busied about such matters,
and, placing their dependence on mystic enchantments, should be led to neglect
the truth, and to pursue those objects which have very naturally received night
and darkness for their portion, passing over the things which are worthy of
light and of day. Let no one, therefore, of the disciples or followers of Moses
either be initiated himself into any mysterious rites of worship, or initiate
any one else; for both the act of learning and that of teaching such initiations
is an impiety of no slight order. (320) For if these things are virtuous, and
honorable, and profitable, why do ye, O ye men who are initiated, shut
yourselves up in dense darkness, and limit your benefits to just three or four
men, when you might bring down the advantages which you have to bestow into the
middle of the market place, and benefit all men; so that every one might without
hindrance partake of a better and more fortunate life? (321) for envy is never
found in conjunction with virtue. Let men who do injurious things be put to
shame, and seeking hiding places and recesses in the earth, and deep darkness,
hide themselves, concealing their lawless iniquity from sight, so that no one
may behold it. But to those who do such things as are for the common advantage,
let there be freedom of speech, and let them go by day through the middle of the
market place where they will meet with the most numerous crowds, to display
their own manner of life in the pure sun, and to do good to the assembled
multitudes by means of the principal of the outward senses, giving them to see
those things the sight of which is most delightful and most impressive, and
hearing and feasting upon salutary speeches which are accustomed to delight the
minds even of those men who are not utterly illiterate. (322) Do you not see
that nature has concealed none of those works which are deservedly celebrated
and honorable, but has exhibited openly the stars and the whole of heaven, so as
to cause the sight pleasure, and to excite a desire for philosophy, and she also
displays her seas, and fountains, and rivers, and the excellencies of the
atmosphere, and the beautiful adaptation of the winds to the various seasons of
the year, and of plants, and of animals, and, moreover, the innumerable species
of fruits, for the use and enjoyment of men? (323) Would it not have been right,
then, for you, following her example and design, to give to those who are worthy
of it all things that are necessary for their advantage? But now it very often
happens that no good men at all are initiated by them, but that sometimes
robbers, and wreckers, and companies of debauched and polluted women are, when
they have given money enough to those who initiate them, and who reveal to them
the mysteries which they call sacred. But let all such men be driven away and
expelled from that city, and denied all share in that constitution, in which
honor and truth are reverenced for their own sake. And this is enough to say on
this subject.

LX.
(324) But the law, being most especially an interpreter of equal communion, and
of courteous humanity among men, has preserved the honor and dignity of each
virtue; not permitting any one who is incurably sunk in vice to flee to them,
but rejecting all such persons and repelling them to a distance. (325)
Therefore, as it was aware that no inconsiderable number of wicked men are often
mingled in these assemblies, and escape notice by reason of the crowds collected
there, in order to prevent that from being the case in this instance, he
previously excludes all who are unworthy from the sacred assembly, beginning in
the first instance with those who are afflicted with the disease of effeminacy,
men-women, who, having adulterated the coinage of nature, are willingly driven
into the appearance and treatment of licentious women. He also banishes all
those who have suffered any injury or mutilation in their most important
members, and those who, seeking to preserve the flower of their beauty so that
it may not speedily wither away, have altered the impression of their natural
manly appearance into the resemblance of a woman. (326) The law also excludes
not only all harlots, but also those who being born of a harlot bear about them
the disgrace of their mother, because their original birth and origin have been
adulterated. (327) For this passage (if there is any passage at all in the whole
scripture which does so) admits of an allegorical interpretation; for there is
not one description only of impious and unholy men, but there are many and
different. For some persons affirm that the incorporeal ideas are only an empty
name, having no participation in any real fact, removing the most important of
all essences from the list of existing things, though it is in fact the
archetypal model of all things which are the distinctive qualities of essence,
in accordance with which each thing is assigned to its proper species and
limited to its proper dimensions. (328) The sacred pillars of the law call all
these men broken; for such an injury as is implied by that term leaves a man
destitute of all distinctive quality and species, and what is so broken is
nothing else, to speak the strict truth, than mere shapeless material. Thus, the
doctrine which takes away species throws every thing into confusion, and
moreover brings back that want of proper form which existed before the elements
were reduced into proper order. (329) And what can be more absurd than this? For
it is out of that essence that God created every thing, without indeed touching
it himself, for it was not lawful for the all-wise and all-blessed God to touch
materials which were all misshapen and confused, but he created them by the
agency of his incorporeal powers, of which the proper name is "ideas,"
which he so exerted that every genus received its proper form. But this opinion
has created great irregularity and confusion. For when it takes away the things
by means of which the distinctive qualities exist, it at the same time takes
away the distinctive qualities themselves. (330) But other persons, as if they
were engaged in a contest of wickedness, being anxious to carry off the prizes
of victory, go beyond all others in impiety, joining to their denial of the
ideas a negative also of the being of God, as if he had no real existence but
were only spoken of for the sake of what is beneficial to men. Others, again,
out of fear of that Being who appears to be present everywhere and to see every
thing, are barren of wisdom, but devoted to the maintenance of that which is the
greatest of all wickednesses, namely impiety. (331) There is also a third class,
who have entered on the contrary path, guiding a multitude of men and women, of
old and young, filling the world with arguments in favor of a multiplicity of
rulers, in order by such means to eradicate all notions of the one and truly
living God from the minds of men. (332) These are they who are symbolically
called by the law the sons of a harlot. For as mothers who are harlots do not
know who is the real father of their children, and cannot register him
accurately, but have many, or I might almost say all men, their lovers and
associates, the same is the case with those who are ignorant of the one true
God. For, inventing a great number whom they falsely call gods, they are blinded
as to the most important of all existing things which they ought to have
thoroughly learnt, if not alone, at all events as the first and greatest of all
things from their earliest childhood; for what can be a more honorable thing to
learn than the knowledge of the true and living God?

LXI.
(333) The law also excludes a fourth class, and a fifth, both hastening to the
same end, but not with the same intention; for, as they are both followers of
the same great evil, self-will, they have divided between them the whole soul as
a kind of common inheritance, consisting of a rational and an irrational part;
and the one class has appropriate the rational part, which is the mind, and the
other the irrational part which is again subdivided into the outward senses;
(334) therefore, the champions of the mind attribute to it the predominance in
and supreme authority over all human affairs, and affirm that it is able to
preserve all past things in its recollection, and to comprehend all present
things with great vigor, and to divine the future by probable conjecture; (335)
for this is the faculty which sowed and planted all the fertile soil in both the
mountainous and champaign districts of the earth, and which invented
agriculture, the most useful of all sciences for human life. This also is the
faculty which surveyed the heaven, and by a proper contemplation of it made the
earth accessible to ships by an ingenuity beyond all powers of description;
(336) this, also invented letters, and music, and the whole range of encyclical
instruction, and brought them to perfection. This also, is the parent of that
greatest of all good things, philosophy, and by means of its different parts it
has benefited human life, proceeding by the logical portion of it to an
infallible interpretation of difficulties, and by its moral part to a correction
of the manners and dispositions of men; and by its physical division to the
knowledge of the heaven and the world. And they have also collected and
assembled many other praises of the mind on which they dwell, having a continual
reference to the species already mentioned, about which we have not at the
present time leisure to occupy ourselves.

LXII.
(337) But the champions of the outward senses extol their praises, also, with
great energy and magnificence; enumerating in their discourse all the wants
which are supplied by their means, and they say that two of them are the causes
of living; smell and taste; and two of living well, seeing and hearing; (338)
therefore, by means of taste the nourishment derived from food is conveyed into
the system, and by means of the nostrils the air on which every living thing
depends; for this also is a continual food, which nourishes and preserves men,
not only while they are awake, but also while they are asleep. And the proof of
this is clear; for if the passage of the breath be obstructed for even the
shortest period, to such a degree as wholly to cut off the air which is intended
by nature to be conveyed into the system from without, inevitable death will of
necessity ensue. (339) Again, of the more philosophical of the outward senses by
means of which the living well is produced, the power of sight beholds the light
which is the most beautiful of all essences, and by means of the light it
beholds all other things, the sun, the moon, the stars, the heaven, the earth,
the sea, the innumerable varieties of plants and animals, and in short all
bodies, and shapes, and odors, and magnitudes whatever, the sight of which has
given birth to excessive wisdom, and has begotten a great desire for knowledge.
(340) And even without reckoning the advantage derived from these things; sight
also affords us the greatest benefits in respect of the power of distinguishing
one's relatives and strangers, and friends, and avoiding what is injurious and
choosing what is beneficial. Now each of the other parts of the body has been
created with reference to appropriate uses, which are of great importance, as,
for instance, the feet were made for walking, and for all the other uses to
which the legs can be applied; again, the hands were created for the purpose of
doing, or giving, or taking anything; and the eyes, as a sort of universal good,
afford both to the hands and feet, and to all the other parts of the body the
cause of being able to act or move rightly; (341) and that this is the case is
most unerringly demonstrated by the evidence of those who have suffered any
mutilation in these members, who cannot in real truth be said to have either
feet or hands, and who by the reality of their condition prove the correctness
of their name, which they say that men of old gave them not so much by way of
reproach as out of compassion, calling them impotent, out of surprise at what
they see. (342) Again, hearing is the thing by which melodies and rhythm, and
all parts and divisions of music are distinguished; for song and speech are
salutary and wholesome medicines, the one charming the passions and the
inharmonious qualities within us by its rhythm, and our unmelodious qualities by
its melodies, and bridling our immoderate vehemence by its fixed measures; (343)
and each of those parts of it are various and multiform, as the musicians and
poets do testify, whom we must believe; and speech, checking and cutting short
all the impulses which lead to wickedness, and healing those who are under the
dominion of folly and misery, and strengthening those who are inclined to yield
in a cowardly manner, and subduing those who resist more obstinately, becomes
thus the cause of the greatest advantages.

LXIII.
(344) The advocates of the mind and of the outward senses, having put these
arguments together, make gods of both of them, the one deifying the first, and
the other the last; both classes out of their self-will and self-conceit
forgetting the truly living God. On which account the lawgiver very naturally
excludes them all from the sacred assembly, calling those who would take away
the ideas, broken in the stones, and those too who are utterly atheistical, to
whom he has given the appropriate name of eunuchs; and those who are the
teachers of an opposite system of theogony, whom he calls the sons of a harlot;
and besides all these classes he excludes also the self-willed and
self-conceited, some of whom have deified reason, and others have called each
separate one of the outward senses gods. For all these men are hastening to the
same end, even though they are not all influenced by the same intentions. (345)
But we who are the followers and disciples of the prophet Moses, will never
abandon our investigation into the nature of the true God; looking upon the
knowledge of him as the true end of happiness; and thinking that the true
everlasting life, as the law says, {49}{Deuteronomy 4:4.} is to live in
obedience to and worship of God; in which precept it gives us a most important
and philosophical lesson; for in real truth those who are atheists are dead as
to their souls, but those who are marshalled in the ranks of the true living
God, as his servants, enjoy an everlasting Life.{50}